


Feels Like Christmas Time When You're Here

by coloredmoon



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Advent, Christmas fic, M/M, Merry Christmas, chapter everyday until christmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:55:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 47,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27817879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coloredmoon/pseuds/coloredmoon
Summary: When your own father is Santa Claus, you can't exactly expect him to be home for Christmas, and Karma Akabane was used to his dad not being there on his own son's birthday. Usually, he'd just spend the day by himself. This year, however, Christmas appears to be in danger, and Karma needs to help his father with delivering presents to all the children and bringing Christmas joy around the world, all while trying to spread the Christmas spirit to his holiday-hating friend, Nagisa Shiota.Or: How Santa's son and his elf heighted homosexual life partner saved christmas.[24 days of Christmas! A chapter will be posted everyday until Christmas]
Relationships: Akabane Karma/Shiota Nagisa
Comments: 57
Kudos: 93





	1. December 1st

For as long as Karma could remember, Christmas had been special to him. When he was younger, he’d always loved the coziness and winter holiday decorations his parents spread through their house. Of course, it spread so much further than that. He couldn’t take a single step outside of his house without seeing the shimmering of the bright Christmas lights decorating the streets. The movies airing on TV were heartwarming, cute and, though little Karma always fake gagged as an overreaction to the kissing people on the screen, they always made sure he’d have a great time with his parents. 

Of course, the fact that it was also his birthday made the day even better. 

As if the usual Christmas formalities weren’t enough, the number of presents he got on the 25th of December was near to abnormal. The amount of attention he received from his parents as an only child combined with his birthday being a literal holiday made Karma feel like actual royalty. Everything was about him, and it was great. 

A few weeks before his tenth birthday, things changed quite a bit. On what appeared to be a calm night at first, his entire family was woken up by a sudden loud crashing sound on the roof of their house. Though his parents had insisted he’d stay inside, Karma followed them into the snowy world in front of their house, shoes barely on as he ran to look up at whatever the source of the sound had been. 

He was way too young and, obviously, tired to really recognize what was going on. His parents, however, had appeared just as confused about the situation as he was. There was some kind of wreck and someone seemed to be standing on their roof, wobbling in an attempt to keep his balance. Karma thought that was funny. Who on earth would try to walk on their roof? that’s just silly. 

His dad had called out to him, telling him to get off their roof, as you do. Everything after that was a bit of a blur to Karma. He knew the person had fallen off the roof, but there was no body or anything, just a bright red coat with white fur decorating the edges. In hindsight, he wasn’t sure what possessed him to ask his dad to put it on, force him even. His dad had done it and from there on everything  _ really  _ went off the rails. 

His dad started gaining weight, not a weird thing in itself, that could happen to any man nearing his fifties. However, the excessive beard growth was a little freaky. Anytime he shaved it off, it grew right back. Only when Christmas was right around the corner, did they get a visit from a very peculiar tiny person who informed them just what was going on. 

His father was, from that day forward, Santa Clause. 

At the time it had been cool. Karma got to meet all the elves, he saw the north pole, and, most importantly of all, his dad was  _ literally Santa Clause. _ That was a lot to handle for a nine year old. He was taken aback by it all, but also amazed. To be fair, he may be one of the few kids in Japan who was raised with the idea of Santa being real. His father had taken that with him when he’d moved to Japan to marry his mother. 

Much drama ensued. His father hadn’t been entirely thrilled with the sudden change in his life and it took him quite a bit to embrace his new responsibilities as Santa Clause. But his father loved kids, and there was no way he’d take that Christmas feeling from anyone. If anything, Karma felt his dad had never been happier than when he started spreading the Christmas joy like that. He was the perfect Santa. 

Now, it was two weeks before Christmas, and thus also two weeks until Karma’s sixteenth birthday. The snow had started falling in Japan and graced the scenery with its white goodness that went so well with the fairy lights illuminating it. Christmas music had started playing in the stores ages ago, and most of his friends had started to discuss their plans for the holidays already. And Karma? He was home alone. 

It wasn’t something he wasn’t used to. His father was busy, he knew that much. Christmas was so soon and there was always some last minute rush on the North Pole to finish producing all the toys and ensure the naughty and nice list was in order. On top of that, he was sure the elves wanted to check the sleigh once again, not really wanting any malfunctions when Christmas was actually there. 

The problem was that it wasn’t exactly the easiest year for him. Sure, the loneliness issue was there every year, but after the whole E-class debacle, which ended not even a year ago, he felt bad enough as it was. Not that his parents truly understood that part of their son’s life. They may have known enough about the God of Death because “Santa knows all”, but that wasn’t the same as knowing Korosensei. Nor was it like understanding what their son felt now that he was gone. 

He grabbed the snowglobe from his desk, resisting the temptation to shake it up. As nice as it would be to not be alone sometimes, he knew he shouldn’t disturb anyone, not so close to Christmas. The last thing he wanted was for his parents to consider him a burden. 

He just wasn’t a fan of the fact that his parents weren’t there with him on what was, especially to his dad, considered an important family holiday  _ and _ his birthday. Just like anyone else, he deserved to have his parents there with him, didn’t he? But he couldn’t be selfish and ask for Santa to not do his job either. He’d disappoint many kids around the world, if not all. 

For a few minutes, he just sat behind his desk, looking out of his bedroom window rather than at the homework he was supposed to be working on. Even in the growing darkness of the evening, he could follow the streets of Kunugigaoka, because of all the lights that spread through his neighbourhood and so far beyond. He didn’t need his parents to appreciate that sight. That entire atmosphere of Christmas would always be there for him. Everything was just so pretty. 

For a moment, he could forget what he was missing, because the outside world offered so much in return. 

He sensed his phone bussing away on his desk, interrupting his entranced state. Looking at the screen, he couldn’t help but let his lips curl up into a tiny smile. Even if the message itself wasn’t that out of the ordinary, the person he received it from was. At least he wasn’t entirely alone for today. 


	2. December 2nd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karma and Nagisa still meet up to hang out sometimes, even in the cold and snowy December weather.

Karma kept his hands in his pocket to shield them from the cold outside air as he watched his breath form tiny clouds in front of him. Before winter had come around, he really hadn’t expected snow that year, if he were honest. It was great though. The world looked even more like a Christmas winter wonderland that way. However, it also reminded him of another certain cold place, far far away from the streets of Japan, where his parents could be found. 

His thoughts of his parents were interrupted by someone calling his name from behind him, and Karma turned around to see his blue haired friend coming towards him. Nagisa was running, obviously more than a bit later than their planned meetup time. Not that Karma cared, he was glad he could meet up with him at all, even if he had to wait in the freezing weather for him for at least half an hour. 

Just as Nagisa was about to reach him, Karma noticed his feet slipping on the icy path beneath him. Karma’s instincts immediately kicked in, his reflexes as fast as ever. Before Nagisa could fall face first on the ground, Karma lunged forwards, successfully catching him in his arms. 

Nagisa started to ramble out an apology as Karma kept a hold of him, almost slipping away too as he helped Nagisa get back up on his feet. An awkward laugh escaped Nagisa the moment he was finally standing again. A few moments passed of Karma just looking at Nagisa, until he finally realized that he was still holding on to Nagisa rather firmly. Not only that, but their bodies were also removed a mere few centimeters away from each other. 

Karma let out a forced cough as he let go of Nagisa and took a step back. The peculiar look on Nagisa’s face only flashed by for a second, so fast that Karma barely had time to recognize what it meant. He was blushing, though. Karma figured he was probably doing the same. 

“You really have to be more careful,” Karma said, hoping to divert attention from the situation. “dangerous weather... and all.” 

“I-I know, I-” Nagisa stumbled out, still blushing a little. “I’m sorry” 

“Yeah, you said that,” Karma noted. 

A sigh escaped Nagisa and he looked down to assess the situation. He wiped some snow off of his jeans, appearing slightly irritated about the mess. Karma could imagine why. If not for the fact that it looked stupid, he must also be kind of cold. 

“I’m so not used to the snow yet,” Nagisa continued to complain, his eyes still on his own jeans. “Somehow it surprises me anytime it falls?” 

Karma made a small noise as he attempted to hold back his laughter. Judging by the look Nagisa was giving him now, it was better that he was holding it back. It appeared the smaller boy really didn’t like the snow much. If what he said was true, Karma could only assume how often Nagisa had slipped due to the winter weather through time. He should be happy he didn’t fully fall this time. 

Neither of them had really planned anything for their meetup, both of them just wanting to hang out and talk for a bit. So, they just walked through the brightly lit streets of Kunugigaoka, talking about quite literally anything. From topics such as their different high schools and classes to generally fun things they did outside of that. As per usual Nagisa didn’t have that much to talk about, being rather focused on his studies. 

“You know you’re allowed to have fun every once in a while,” Karma told him as they crossed the corner to a rather busy street. “Unless your only fun is hanging out with me.” 

Nagisa shrugged. “I do think this is fun, is it that bad my fun is hanging with my friend?” 

Karma didn’t think that was bad. If anything, he was honoured to be Nagisa’s relief from work. He didn’t even have to do much to be there for him, just show up, really. And he, himself, enjoyed it, too. Though he had to admit he also went out to do something else every once in a while. School was barely anything to him, after all. 

“If I’m the only friend worthy of this, I can’t complain.” He said, before asking Nagisa about literally anyone he went to school with, in the hopes of finding out his “potential enemies to fight for your attention for.” 

They ended up looking at some of the store windows while Karma laughed at the people trying to carry their shoppings but falling on their asses because of the snow. The more contents that fell out of the people’s bags, the harder it made Karma laugh. Nagisa was constantly telling him he shouldn’t laugh at them, as per usual a little disappointed with Karma’s not-so-great etiquette. 

“Guess I know  _ you _ are gonna be on Santa’s nice list,” Karma said, mostly joking. 

Nagisa rolled his eyes in response. He didn’t immediately reply to Karma, instead taking the time to fix the scarf around his neck to protect himself from the cold. The look in his eyes remained unimpressed as he returned his gaze to Karma, seemingly checking Karma out. Karma knew he was reading him, he constantly was. 

“Wouldn’t that just be a fairytale?” Nagisa finally responded with another sigh. “If Santa Claus existed?” 

Karma granted himself a little laugh internally. Of course he couldn’t expect Nagisa, a full on teenager now, to believe in Santa Claus anymore. But that wasn’t the funny part, obviously. The irony of the situation was quite a lot, though. If only Nagisa knew he was talking to the literal son of Santa Claus. He’d be talking  _ very _ differently. 

“Well, you probably get many nice presents for your good behaviour nonetheless,” Karma lightly pushed Nagisa in a playful manner. 

Oddly enough, Nagisa didn’t appear to be so entertained by that comment. As he swayed to the side a little from the shove, the look on his face didn’t exactly sparkle with joy. It wasn’t that he looked extremely upset or anything, just not like he was into it. That wasn’t exactly the look Karma had been expecting. Especially not right after he tried to be somewhat funny. 

The boy’s eyes drifted away from Karma and directed themselves towards the ground. Karma tried to follow along but quickly found himself studying Nagisa’s face again. Not that he understood it, he couldn’t read people like Nagisa did. The smaller boy’s lips opened slightly for a second before closing again, taking a moment to breath through his nose before he spoke up again. 

“Yeah, I’m not getting any presents.” He admitted, making Karma send him a confused look. 

“What do you mean?” 

something about their talk felt wrong to Karma, as if it was filled with too much negativity considering they were talking about Christmas. Christmas, which was supposed to be the time of the year filled with joy and the people you loved around you. It wasn’t right to him that their conversation on the topic felt so tense. Even if Nagisa himself appeared rather calm about the topic, Karma could easily sense something was wrong. 

“oh, I don’t celebrate Christmas.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> second day, Nagisa is here. Idk, I thought them just walking in the snow was cute. :D


	3. December 3rd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is true, Nagisa Shiota does NOT do Christmas.

The monotonous voice of his teacher drummed in Karma’s ear as he stared out of the classroom window, watching as another layer of snow slowly fell on the school grounds. The snow had really started piling up and had become more than just a small hazard. Yet, somehow, Karma wasn’t thinking about the hilarious inevitability of watching people slip and fall on the ground. He was a little distracted. 

Rather than trying to solve the logarithms on the board, he let his mind wander on what Nagisa had told him the day before. He didn’t want to let it bother him so much, but it just did. As the snow dwindled slowly to the ground with a similar speed as it had done the day before, Karma could remember very vividly the exact words Nagisa had spoken to him.

\--------------------

“Oh, I don’t celebrate Christmas.” Nagisa’s voice informed Karma. 

The words echoed in Karma’s mind for a bit. His voice had given away barely any emotion, as if he were hiding it or like there weren’t any at all. It took a few seconds before Karma really even realized what his friend had just told him. When it did, Karma was taken back by it, very taken back. 

“You- What do you mean?” Karma had stopped walking. “Like, no presents? No dinner?” 

“Uh, y-yeah?” Nagisa looked a little confused as he spoke, probably unsure why Karma had stopped. “None of that, it’s just like any other week, really..?” 

Karma took another moment to think about that. He  _ needed _ another moment. Sure, he was aware that not everyone celebrated the holidays the same. Not everyone had Christmas fanatics for parents, got many presents because they were rich, or, you know, had literal Santa Claus as their dad. Still, he just couldn’t believe there was not a single shred of Christmas in the Shiota household. 

“Decorations?” He asked. 

“No.”

“Christmas movies?”

“no.” 

“Do you have family coming over?”

“no.”

“You hang out with your mom?”

“not more than usual…”

Neither of them said anything for a moment, Karma now visibly confused. Nagisa had obviously started getting a little awkward, barely able to look Karma in the eye as he was interrogated by him. He’d even started pulling some fluff from his old worn out gloves. Somehow, Karma wasn’t done, though. 

He shook his head, unsure what to make of the situation. To him, Christmas was  _ everything _ . Yes, it wasn’t exactly family time anymore for him, but it always  _ had _ been. And Christmas movies! He loved them! He wouldn’t usually admit to it, considering he’d usually be more vocal about his love for proper directing and good action sequences, but sometimes a feel-good cheesy Christmas movie was perfect. 

“I hate to ask it but-” Karma had one more question. “Not even KFC?” 

It only took a single shake of Nagisa’s head for Karma to kind of lose it. His entire mind raced with possibilities. Somehow, he was hoping Nagisa was joking. Maybe he was just getting back at Karma for all the times he’d messed with him? Then again, that wouldn’t be a very Nagisa thing to do. Not usually at least. 

He was about to ask Nagisa another question, hoping for a different answer than “no”, when Nagisa spoke up before he could even manage to get out the first sentence. 

“Can we discuss something else now?” He asked, voice impatient.  _ “please.” _

\--------------------

The sound of the bell and eruption of shuffling noises around him forced Karma to leave his mind and return to the real world. School was done for the day and, if he had to be honest, he was a little done with it, too. In his mind he considered skipping the rest of the week, knowing he didn’t need any of that week’s classes anyways. Perhaps his teachers would even forgive him, what with the whole Christmas spirit and all. 

He knew exactly what was waiting for him on his way home. On Tuesdays he and Nagisa finished around the same time, and they’d always meet up at the train station. That way, they got to walk together for quite a bit. Still, that didn’t happen every week, because sometimes Karma left school a little earlier than that. Nagisa didn’t support the skipping, but there wasn’t much he could do now that they went to different schools. 

Karma enjoyed spending his time with Nagisa, though. Both because Nagisa was kind and talkative  _ and _ because he was hilarious to make fun of. The other boy just had the best reactions and was an overly easy target for Karma’s jokes. 

As per usual, Nagisa was the leader of the conversation. He talked the most out of the two of them, him actually having many interactions throughout the day to discuss with his friend. It wasn’t like Karma didn’t talk to any people, just not as much as Nagisa did. It always amazed Karma how well liked Nagisa was and how many friends he appeared to make so easily ever so often. Somehow, he could always find someone to have a conversation with, no matter where he was. 

Really, Karma didn’t want to seem like he was jealous of his friend. It was just so difficult to deal with the way Nagisa’s eyes lit up as he recalled, for example, Kayano’s enthusiasm over some season limited edition pudding. His smile would always be so bright and genuine, and somehow very soft at the same time, and it gave Karma a weird feeling in his stomach whenever he watched that expression. He wished that smile was truly for him. 

“Hey, by the way,” Nagisa suddenly interrupted his own talk. “You said I could come over tonight, right? Because if you’re not busy, I could always use some help with those math assignments.” 

The sudden change of topic took Karma by surprise, but he collected himself fairly quickly, too. He considered his plans for that night. Honestly, the most exciting thing was the curry he was planning on making, and it wouldn’t be bad at all if Nagisa was there for that, too. One less evening spent alone. 

“Oh, yeah sure,” He shrugged, trying to act nonchalant in front of Nagisa. “I’m still up for that, if you want you can even come over for dinner?” 

“Oh!” Nagisa let out a noise of surprise. “T-that sounds good, actually. I promised my mom to help with some chores after school so, uh… I’ll be there at six?” 

Karma would have loved to just drag Nagisa along to his home immediately. His own home just felt too empty, and he didn’t  _ want _ to wait until six. If it was up to him, he’d have Nagisa sleepover as well. However, he knew that wasn’t very plausible on a school’s night. Neither Nagisa’s mom nor Nagisa himself would agree to that. 

“Yeah, six is fine.” He simply responded. 

Nagisa sent him a big smile, either ignoring or totally oblivious to Karma’s off and awkward behaviour. It wasn’t like Karma was trying to be that way, being around Nagisa just brought out a different side of him. A side that felt a little sad the moment he recognized they were at the exact street where their ways home would split. That meant he’d have to seperate from Nagisa and wait for the clock to strike six before really enjoying his time. 

It seemed Nagisa had noticed the same. He looked over his shoulder, blue pigtails flying along with the quick movement. He told his goodbye’s to Karma, ensuring he'd be there on time this time. Karma had no doubt he’d try. 

“See you at six!” 

Nagisa basically yelled his last words as he walked away from Karma, walking backwards so he was still looking at his friend as he waved. Unsure what else to do, Karma waved back at the other boy, attempting to send the same type of smile back as he was receiving, yet clearly portraying much more of an awkward demeanor. He really hoped Nagisa was not about to slip again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's hope I finish tomorrow's chapter on time... I'm having trouble figuring out how I wanna portray a certain scene, oops.


	4. December 4th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karma has a plan. It's not very Christmas friendly.

Even when considering the full situation, Karma wasn’t  _ entirely _ sure how he’d gotten to where he was. All of it had been his idea, but that didn’t mean he knew how he came up with his newest reckless plan of action. He knew he couldn’t blame Nagisa for it, because Nagisa was literally the opposite of enthusiastic about his plan. 

Karma threw a look over his shoulder, where the other boy stood, once again fidgeting quite a bit. His face gave away his entire thought process. He didn’t want to be there. The entire way to Kunugigaoka High, Nagisa had basically tried to convince Karma to not do anything stupid, a futile effort, really. As much as Karma was sure Nagisa was trying to do what was best, he wasn’t about to stop now. 

He really had been planning to just make his curry and help Nagisa with his homework, at first. The idea had actually come to him as he was stirring the food and talking to Nagisa, when some nonsensical topic of Nagisa always being picked last for gym class was brought up. Talking with a tone which Karma could only describe as ‘whiny’, Nagisa talked to Karma’s back, unbothered by the lack of response other than some hums from his friend. 

“I mean I literally  _ killed _ them in dodgeball… what? two weeks ago?” Nagisa had complained. “And still they think I’m too weak to do anything and- and I-I’m not saying I’m some star in PE, I just think I’m...Well I’m better than being picked last?” 

In his mind, Karma couldn’t help but notice Nagisa’s use of the word ‘kill’. He tended to do that a lot. It wasn’t something that bothered Karma, he just hoped it wasn’t some unhealthy thing to Nagisa, where he had to see anything as assassination for him to deal with it. Not that he wanted to judge Nagisa for anything, he wasn’t even the best at coping himself. 

“It’s kinda ridiculous,” Nagisa had let out a sigh and Karma had registered the sounds of the kitchen chair being shoved back a little. “They’re like, treating the gymnasium like some battlefield I’m not good enough for?” 

Those were the words that had started something in Karma. The general idea of what Nagisa had been trying to convey had been recognizable to Karma. Not that he ever got picked for PE last, of course. The point was, he knew exactly how some people treated their gymnasium. Kunugigaoka High School had an enormous gymnasium, which Karma held as much hatred for as he did for deadlines. A lot. And most notably, that gymnasium had a very nice large wall decorated with sports certificates and important documented wins for their school. Something about it was… pretentious. 

Only after about one more minute had he interrupted Nagisa’s talk, finally having figured out exactly what kind of materials he had in his own home that would be useful for his plan. Almost as soon as he’d turned around, smirk on his face, Nagisa had realized something was up. The other boy had looked back at him with a look of hesitation, one that would not leave that very face even as they stood on the rooftop of the high school Karma went to. 

“This is absolutely ridiculous,” Nagisa hissed, looking around with much insecurity. “It’s dangerous a-and illegal!” 

Karma rolled his eyes, not at all that bothered by the situation. He’d reminded Nagisa of their extensive assassin training history and their perfectly fine capability of pulling this particular plan of. They weren’t some of the best assassins in E-class for them to waste their talents and hard work. As for the illegal part, Karma just didn’t care. 

“We’re not going to get caught,” He told his friends as he once more secured the knot. “And can anyone really call it illegal if we’re not caught?” 

The look Nagisa gave him informed Karma of the exact words his friend was going to say. 

“Yes!” Nagisa’s eyes grew wide in disbelief of everything Karma was saying. “Yes, they very much  _ can _ .” 

With a simple shrug, Karma waved Nagisa’s words off and tested his weight on the rope before carefully climbing through the gymnasium’s roof window. He secured his feet against the wall, ready to climb down, when he saw Nagisa walking towards him and squat down to look him in the eye. Karma raised an eyebrow at him, unsure what to do with Nagisa at that point. 

He considered why he’d brought him in the first place. At the moment the plan had come to him, Nagisa had just been there, so it was sort of a ‘why not’ thing, mostly. But, also, he kinda wanted Nagisa to be there with him, perhaps even be his accomplice. To him, it felt like Nagisa should do more wild things anyways. You’d think the time in E-class would have made him more brave, but he was still so  _ serious _ all the time. Karma wanted him to go on stupid adventures with him, not for him to be judged by him. 

“Look, if you’re not going to help me, you can leave,” Karma sighed. 

Somehow he was still holding up his own weight on the rope, though he really was ready to climb down. He knew he couldn’t leave Nagisa just yet, though. There was still a chance he’d stay. Helping him didn’t seem entirely like something he was ready for, but Karma believed in the concept of baby steps. 

Nagisa, however, didn’t respond to him. Instead, he looked around himself once more, stretching to see over the street that ran in front of the school. It was empty, no one was around this late, Karma knew that much. Of course, Nagisa was just afraid. Karma wasn’t about to wait on him, because his position was growing to be a rather big nuisance. 

“Suit yourself,” Karma simply said, before continuing to climb down the rope. “I’m going in.” 

The moment he landed on the floor, only a soft thud echoing through the gymnasium, Karma knew he had to act fast. He reached for his backpack, taking out the three cans of spray paint he’d previously found in his own home. In front of him was the exact wall he’d had in mind for his vandalism project, and also coincidentally the one he’d just climbed down on. His lips curled into a smile as he shook the black can in his hand. He had some ideas. 

Wishing to start simple, he made some outlines. The idea of what he wanted to make was a little vague, but the general feeling of it was there, ready to be exhausted. Even if he wasn’t an artist or anything, his skills were enough to entertain some simple acts of vandalism such as this particular one. 

He was very familiar with the object of his art. The round lines and use of red and white were nothing new, but the use of black crossed out eyes and a little blood added to his version of the big man was special to Karma. Perhaps it was a little petty, portraying someone who was out there trying very hard to be so good to many children around the world like some kind of deadbeat asshole. 

But to Karma, that was kinda what he was at that point. 

What had seemed cool at age 10 had really turned into the realization of being neglected by now. Every sissing noise of the spray cans filled Karma with some joy that he felt filled some weird emptiness that had been there before. A little artistic outlet was fine, right? Who was going to do anything about it? His dad sure wasn’t. 

“Karma!” 

One look up confirmed to Karma that Nagisa was still there. He was leaning in through the opened window, calling out to Karma. Karma couldn’t make out the expression on his face, considering there wasn’t much light to illuminate him. That which there was came mostly from behind Nagisa. However, Karma recognized his friend’s portrait easily. 

“Finally feeling like joining?” Karma said, a content yet smug tone in his voice. “Have to say I already achieved most of it withou-” 

“Karma, shut up,” Nagisa didn’t listen to Karma’s word. “I think I saw some pe-” 

Before he could finish that sentence, Karma heard the sound of a door opening behind him. He turned around, fast, dropping the cans he’d previously been holding in his hand. He didn’t mean to look like a deer in headlights, but he sure as hell did. 

In front of him stood none other than his school’s principal, looking straight at Karma with a look on his face that really only conveyed anger and disappointment. Karma hated how farmilair he’d been with the principal, even before the end of his first year. If he wasn’t known for being a former E-class student in junior high, he sure as hell was known for his questionable behaviour and habit of skipping. Though, he supposed vandalism wasn’t on this school’s files of him just yet. 

Well there was a first for everything. 

Karma was about to speak up, hoping to find some kind of words that could somehow make the situation less bad then it actually was. There probably weren’t many words that could do that. Not even the Christmas spirit could get him out of this one. 

“Akabane,” His principal’s voice echoed through the empty gymnasium. “give me  _ one reason _ not to call the police.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the point where I no longer have chapters that I've written before December sooooo... I wrote this while not being able to feel my face cuz I got a tooth pulled. The Dedication TM.


	5. December 5th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oooooh, Karma's in trouble~

There had been many occasions where Karma considered if he needed to be better at sweet talking than he actually was. It was one of those, very few, things which Asano may have been  _ a little  _ better at than him. Usually, that didn’t matter much, because he’d just evade situations where it was necessary or he could make up with some other aspect of his personality. Most people, he could just tease his way out or use his grades to present himself better like he did to his teachers. 

The reason he was thinking about that, this time, was because he had been caught red handed by his own school’s principal. How on earth could he have known there would still be someone in the school at that hour? He knew this lady was a workaholic, but he hadn’t anticipated her to just not go home. Whenever Karma was in the school building, he thought about going home almost the entire time. 

Not all the time, because sometimes it did feel good to be smarter than the people around him and show it. 

He supposed that usual intelligence of him kinda saved his ass a few times, because the only reason his teachers didn’t kick him out appeared to be because his excellent grades really lifted the school’s average. That was a pattern Karma had noticed before, too. Imagine being a delinquent  _ and _ an idiot. To Karma, that sounded like it would just plain suck. He supposed he could ask Terasaka about it some other time. 

Not that he had time to think about that as he sat on the chair opposite of his principal, who was giving him an exceptionally scary stern look. Karma had to admit, it was a little intimidating. She hadn’t called the police, though. Even after Karma had not spoken up as he got caught and thus not defended himself, she hadn’t taken any drastic actions, just dragged him to her office and told him to sit in a chair. An order brought so strictly, that Karma simply couldn’t rebel against it. 

“This is a new low,” His principal said, finally speaking as she let out a disappointed sigh. “I mean, from what I’ve seen on your record you’ve acted quite a bit better since junior high and- Well, this really is a backset.” 

The disappointment in her voice aggravated Karma a little. Sure, he was aware his actions of that evening were meant to cause that kind of reaction, though more on the anger side of that spectrum, but this just wasn’t something he wanted to see. At least Nagisa wasn’t there to see it. Though he was sure he’d have to confront a disappointed or angry Nagisa eventually, at least he wasn’t in trouble at that moment. Lucky for him, his principal hadn’t noticed Karma’s accomplice on the roof, so he got away just fine. And Karma? He just hoped he could avoid the worst punishments. 

“What- What even possessed you to do this?” She started to sound a little annoyed. “And why some kind of bloody dead Santa?!” 

Karma knew exactly why he painted that, of course. However, in response to the woman in front of him, he just shrugged. If anything, he didn’t feel like explaining himself. It was just bothersome and he’d have to answer  _ way _ too many questions. Besides, it wasn’t like he could explain his deep rooted hatred for Santa, and by that extension Christmas, because the holidays were some grim reminder of his father never being around because he had a more important job to do. She simply wouldn’t understand that. 

“Look, I’m not… calling the police,” The principal sighed. “Considering your situation with your E-class experience last year-”

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Of course she had to make it about that. Whatever happened with Korosensei and E-class, it was none of her business. If the Santa Claus thing was incomprehensible to this woman, everything about his last year of junior high was even more so. She needed to stop talking about it, because Karma wasn’t up for that. He just wanted to go home. 

Whatever speech she’d been holding went entirely over Karma’s head. The list of punishments he’d be going through would probably come back to bite him later, so he didn’t care to note down each and every single one of them as they were said. He was sure it involved detention and some kind of work he had to do, nothing he couldn’t face, obviously. And nothing he’d have to do through the winter break. Honestly, whatever it all was, to Karma it felt like it was all worth it. That artwork had really helped him express some of his emotions about dear old Santa. 

“-and I’ll have to call in your parents, of course.” 

With more speed that he’d anticipated, Karma moved and looked up at his principal. His eyes had grown wide in both surprise and some kind of desperacy. He had to actually put in some effort to not let his mouth fall open widely in shock. At first his body just remained that way, unable to speak. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all. 

“Ma’am, really,” Karma tried to assure her. “Everything is fine, I’ll do all that… stuff. B-but really, my parents don’t have to be involved! My father is really busy and a-”

“This isn’t up for discussion,” She responded, interrupting him with a strict voice. “I’m calling them, first thing in the morning.” 

\--------------------

The next day was weird. That was the best way to describe it. He was sure his parents had been called and were informed of his recent actions. Even as he sat on the steps of the front entrance of his high school, he couldn’t help but tap his foot in anxiety. They’d be pissed, sure, he was prepared for that. It wasn’t uncommon for his own parents to be disappointed with him. The difference this time was that he’d also got his principal to interrupt them at the busiest time of the year. 

Whenever his mother was gonna show up, Karma figured she’d have some words for him. Mrs. Claus really wasn’t as sweet and jolly when it came to it. If anything, she was so much more strict than his dad. Then again, she always was the one to come to his school and hear about all Karma’s bullshit. She’d expressed so often how much she disliked that. 

Of course, it was his mother who would come to talk. Santa could barely call him or send a simple text, even on Karma’s own birthday or new years. His mom was there to deal with all the serious stuff. Well, Karma supposed bringing presents to all the good children in the world was somewhat of a serious business, too. 

Though, it appeared his father skipped Nagisa every year, so… He may not even be doing a very good job of that. 

Considering Karma was expecting to be waiting for his mother, anyone could imagine the absolute look of confusion that spread on his face as a rather big man, rocking white hair and a beard, walked towards Karma. He had an uncharacteristically irritated look on his usually jolly face. So, Karma couldn’t even manage to let out a greeting as his own father stopped in front of him and crossed his arms. 

“No words?” His father said, not a hint of the usual joy in his voice. “You do realize the distance I just traveled to come here?” 

Karma needed a moment to process what was really happening. Yes, another moment. It just didn’t fit any of his expectations to see his dad stand in front of his school, and only little over a week before Christmas, too! Whatever words Karma really wanted to say to his dad on any other day, just wouldn’t come to him now. 

“Dad, you’re-” Karma finally managed to speak up. “You’re not on the North Pole?” 

His father glared at him, eyes narrowed and face wrinkled up slightly, making him look even  _ more _ older than he actually was. Karma had rarely seen his father look like that. Actually, he may never have seen him as he was at that moment. Everything about it was unnatural and Karma wanted him to stop. Not that he was going to, of course. He had his reasons to be mad. Though Karma also had his reasons for his actions, he supposed. 

“We’re going to your principal now,” His father spoke up. “And after that, you and I need to have a  _ serious _ talk.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> perhaps not the most fun chapter, just a little filler in between so i can get where i need to go. Shit goes faster from next chapter onwards!


	6. December 6th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daddy Christmas is here.

The actual conversation went much like Karma had expected it to go. It was the standard talk of ‘not wanting to see this again’ and ‘distinctions between consequences at home and at school’. Nothing Karma didn’t know yet. Which usually would mean he just wouldn’t listen to whatever was happening. But that very conversation was so surreal to him, that i felt like it shouldn’t be happening at all. 

He studied his father’s face, unsure what to make of it. To Karma, he looked just about the same as usual now. Whatever facade he was putting on, it was probably just to please the principal. He supposed he should be thankful for her, in a sense. The fact that she didn’t call the cops and felt like some softer approach told Karma she really was trying to be kind about it and trust in Karma’s ability to change his behaviour. His father most likely knew all that, because he knew of  _ all _ the good behaved and less so behaved children and adults throughout the world. 

“We do have some issues facilitating these measures,” The principal told his father, face neutral as she spoke. “With the winter break coming up we can’t exactly do much, but we do think any consequences need to happen  _ now _ .” 

Karma slumped down in the chair. Right, she was just asking his dad to continue whatever punishment was appropriate for the situation over the break. Not that his father would do so, that much was clear. If Santa Claus could find the time to watch his son to supervise any consequences for his actions around Christmas, well, he supposed pigs could fly by then. Stupid expectations to have, but what else was new. 

“I assure you ma’am, I’m not going to wave this off,” His father promised. 

Within another ten minutes, the conversation was over. On top of that, the school day was over, so Karma was entirely prepared to just make his way home. Though he had enough homework he could work ahead on, Karma felt like he deserved a few rounds of Smash Bros to cool himself down a little. He wanted to turn to his father and inform him of that and wave him goodbye, assuming he’d be going back to his HQ right about then, but one look at his father’s face informed Karma that he’d been serious about that talk they needed to have. 

The fact that he didn’t immediately say something again didn’t make it any better. For Santa to portray an angry look and carry so much disappointment, it wasn’t natural. Karma didn’t want him to go all ‘ho ho’ jolly on him either, to be fair. Something about the current tension in the air told Karma something was about to happen. Whether that would be something good for him wasn’t clear yet, because there were just way too many possible outcomes here. 

“Follow me,” His father finally said with a serious tone. Karma didn’t defy that order. 

After having reached a cleared alleyway about two blocks away from his school, his father stopped in his tracks. The suddenness of that action surprised Karma a little, causing him to nearly bump into him. He looked around the alley, wondering why on earth they’d stopped. There really wasn’t much to see there. Surely his father didn’t think the perfect place for a conversation was a creepily dark alley in the middle of kunugigaoka. It honestly felt more like a place Karma would use to beat up some assholes from his school. He really hoped that wasn’t what his father was planning. Though, a beating up probably wasn’t a very Santa way of doing things. 

He was about to speak up, ask why on earth they were there, when his father suddenly lifted his hand. Karma could only watch the movement, jumping slightly as his father snapped his fingers. At first he didn’t understand why he’d done that, but the sudden light and almost shimmering movement in the alley asked for his attention immediately. He recognized almost instantly that what was happening was clearly magic. 

Within seconds the previously empty alley was filled with the presence of a bright red sleigh with shiny gold decorations and a number of reindeer in front of it. The gold decorations ranged from decorative curls to  [ reliëf ](https://www.woorden.org/woord/reli%C3%ABf) images of Christmas associated objects such as mistletoe, trees, and nicely wrapped gifts. The two layers of seatings were covered in expensive looking and flawless red velvet, which looked nothing less than inviting to sit on. Santa’s sleigh. A thing which, though Karma had seen it some times before, never seized to amaze in both the magical and grandeur aspect. 

His father walked towards it with the usual determinations and eaze, the sleigh and him being so connected that he never showed his astonishment or appreciation for it anymore. Karma didn’t follow him so easily, rather doubtful about what his next action should be. Was he even supposed to go on there? His question was soon answered when his father stepped into the sleigh and turned to look him in the eye. 

“Well,” He insisted, “Get on then.” 

Unsure of his reasoning for it, Karma approached the transportation device slowly. He stepped on carefully, his father’s constant eye on him not going past him at all. The look was as serious as ever, still closer to a glare than anything else. He wasn’t sure he enjoyed the idea of him riding his sleigh while carrying that mood. That was like driving when you cry, probably not a good idea. 

Without any warning at all, his father whipped the reins, triggering the reindeer to come to movement. Faster than Karma could remember it going in previous experiences in the sleigh, though those had been about four to five years ago now, the reindeer dragged the sleigh forwards. Almost instantly, they were airborne and going with so much speed that Karma could feel his hair moving back with the wind in his face. He held onto the side of the sleigh, his knuckles white due to his tight grip. 

Karma wouldn’t say he was afraid of heights or anything. Sure, falling from big heights was dangerous and could kill you, or whatever, but it had never really been something that prevented him from going to high places. If anything, he had a rather impressive history of acting stupid on high ground. A particular jump of a particular cliff was the first thing to came to Karma’s mind on that topic. 

Another look at his dad confirmed to him that he shouldn’t fear this particular high ground ride either. Though there wouldn’t be any superhuman teacher to save him this time, he didn’t take Santa to be much of a prolicide loving maniac. His father was rather focused on their ride. He hadn’t told Karma where they were going, but the fact that it wasn’t to their home basically informed Karma that they’d most likely be going North. 

Just when he was about to relax, the sleigh took a sharp turn around a building and Karma felt a little bit of a nauseous feeling come up in his throat. He swallowed hard, really not in for throwing up at that moment. It would be gross and, most importantly, hella embarrassing. A small laugh came from the direction of his father and Karma was instantly reminded of one of the only ways he was possibly anything like his father. 

\--------------------

Some minutes and a change of weather later, Karma found their sleighride had finally ended and his father had landed the sleigh safely on a snowy surface. Unlike Karma, who still felt a little dizzy from the oddly fast journey for such a distance, Santa jumped up and out of the sleigh without much effort. He turned to Karma, his hands in his side as he looked at him. 

Karma looked around at the exact place he’d been thinking about quite a bit, especially around the time where signs of christmas had started showing themselves in his life. The snow covered land looked shiny and beautiful, the white decorating the cozy looking houses that were illuminated by the colourful lights decorating the roof edges and even some window silks. Whatever surface he looked at, there was some kind of lighting, wreath, or other form of decoration gracing its surface. 

And of course, there were the people walking around. Everyone he saw was busy, frantically running around between houses or each other, often carrying wrapped items or long lists that dragged along the ground with their small bodies. That was one of the most peculiar things about these people, their height. Or rather, their lack of height. If that didn’t give away their status, the pointy ears sure would. Karma wasn’t sure he’d seen any elves for years now. 

Some looked up, noticing the return of their boss which had very clearly been announced because of the ever ringing bells of the sleigh he traveled in. At first, they looked at Santa, pretty much always in a state of admiration over him. Only when they caught a glance of Karma in the sleigh, did the smiles on their faces slowly turn into something else. Karma was sure his visit to the place was as much of a surprise to him as it was to them. 

“Well, it’s been some time,” His father announced, voice as boisterous as ever. “Welcome to the North Pole.” 


	7. December 7th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> North Pole time!   
> aka: Karma's been a bad boy.

The inside of Santa’s HQ looked a little different from how Karma remembered it. He supposed innovation happened everywhere, even on the North Pole. Still, walking through the wrapping stations and manufacturing halls, he felt something was wrong. Everything about the place was off, to such a degree that he wasn’t sure he could just put it on Christmas rush hour. 

Part of the uneasiness came from the expressions of the elves, who looked distressed in just about every way possible. The elves surrounding the conveyor-belt were working hurriedly, eyes full of panic as the machine they were working with offered them off putting versions of off-brand Barbie dolls which rocked half coloured faces and disfigured limbs. Karma couldn’t help but laugh a little at the idea of some kid finding that monstrosity under their Christmas tree come Christmas morning. 

He didn’t have much time to dwell on that thought or the state of Santa’s factory, because his father was walking ahead of him with a fast pace, leading him to what Karma assumed to be the centre of the building. His father hadn’t spoken a word to him anymore, not even reflecting to him about what was happening around them. Previous trips to the North Pole had always felt like they came with a specialized tour, all for him. Then again, those previous trips hadn’t been right after Karma had gotten into trouble like that. 

The room he was led to was vaguely familiar to Karma. It was a round room, warmly decorated with paintings and shelves showing off items of a big assortment, and some cabinets on the wall behind him. Karma didn’t care too much for those details, his attention instead caught by the desk on the opposite side of the door, facing him as they walked on it. On top of it was a snowglobe he was all too familiar with. One which he had the matching matter of. 

His father walked towards that exact desk he was looking at, moving behind it to fall down on the chair behind it with a loud sigh. Karma jumped a little as the grand double door behind him closed without anyone touching it. The magic of the North Pole sure was something else. He turned back to his father, who was rubbing his temples before returning his gaze to Karma. 

“Lots going on in there,” Karma awkwardly said, pointing back to the halls they had just walked through. 

“Don’t try to raise a different topic,” His father warned him, instantly causing Karma to drop his hands. “All this…  _ stuff _ has really escalated. Vandalism, really?” 

Unsure what his father wanted from him, Karma just stood there. He knew Santa had to be all about children being ‘good’ and all, but he wasn’t really up for that kind of debate with his father that wasn’t even around most of the time. What was he expecting? For Karma to just sit in their home by himself and wait for him to come back? That was boring at the very least. At some point playing Smash Bros and Mario Kart against CPU’s got boring. He found his own form of entertainment, one which was a lot cooler than that. 

Getting no response from his son, his dad got up and walked towards the cabinets. Karma followed him, somehow sensing that he was supposed to. His father glanced over the cabinet before opening a particular drawer and browsing through the files inside it. Considering the great amount of cabinets and seemingly endless depth of the drawer, Karma was surprised he could manage to find anything in that dreadfully large collection of papers. If this was his job, he’d have gone digital  _ years ago. _ Santa needed a tablet or something. 

Santa’s face lit up a little and he stopped scrolling through the papers, pulling one out with a soft hum. The file he held in his hand was kind of big, surprisingly so to Karma. Compared to all the other folders visible in his view, it was at least five times as large as the average. Without any delay, his father opened the file and started reading as he flipped through it. 

“Skipping class, disrespecting teachers, disrespecting other figures of authority, harassing strangers  _ and  _ friends, unsolicited acts of violence... with several anecdotes accounted for, blackmailing, minor larceny, and last but not least… Vandalism” His father listed aloud. “And that’s just the summary of it. I could always name more.” 

“you read that out of context,” Karma defended himself. “And I’m sure those are exagge-”

“August 8th, 2015, attempted blackmailing of a friend in crossdress. October 26th, 2015, threw trash at a bunch of high schoolers. January 4th, 2016, disrupting neighbourhood peace by throwing fireworks into trash containers. January 15th, 2016, insulted and fought a friend-”

“That was a complicated situation that was resolved,” Karma crossed his arms in annoyance. “you have no right to meddle with that.” 

His father let out an aggravated sigh, obviously holding back a few words to his own son. He looked down at the file again before just closing it, but still holding on to it in his hands. A tired look was hidden behind his eyes as he tried to give Karma a sincere look. Karma, however, just gave him an apathetic look back. He was curious about something, though. 

“Wait so- Does it say that in Nagisa's file too, then?” He asked. 

He was really hoping that the entire conflict wasn’t just blamed on him in these files. Then again, he also didn’t want this to be one of the reasons  _ Nagisa _ was on the naughty list. He’d expressed the lack of Christmas in his life before, he didn’t want to think their class’s civil war fight would affect it even more. If that was even possible. 

“Nagisa?” His father looked at him confused. 

“He’s my… friend.” Karma answered, unsure how much information about Nagisa he wanted to give the old man. 

A curious look took over his father’s face before he moved to another cabinet and opened another drawer. He took out a file almost instantly, one which was so thin it could probably fit into Karma’s file a few times. He went through it, the look on his face changing to something much darker when he came to the last page. Karma moved closer, hoping to see what his father was looking at, but his father already spoke up. 

“Attempted murder and-” He held the paper close to attempt and read the words on the paper better. “How do you manage to find friends like  _ this? _ ” 

right, well, Karma hadn’t expected Nagisa’s file to be all good. He assumed most of it was, especially considering his father had seemed rather pleased when going through the first majority of the papers. That last page really ruined it, apparently. Karma supposed Nagisa’s violence and moments like his fight with Takaoka didn’t exactly go past Santa’s observations. All he could really hope for was that Korosensei’s end wasn’t on there, because  _ that _ was different. 

“Karma, you’re Santa’s son,” His father returned to the topic at hand, putting Nagisa’s file back. “There’s expectations.” 

Karma didn’t care about that. Once again, he shrugged, not sure what his father wanted from him exactly at that moment. He wasn’t going to apologize for anything, nor did he feel he had to love the whole Santa business for his father to function well in his job. It obviously hadn’t stopped him from continuing the Christmas work any years before. 

“My son,” His father emphasized with a voice that leaked with disappointment “And you’ve been on the naughty list for  _ four years _ now.” 

That surprised Karma a little. Well, not that he hadn’t been behaving perfectly, he was aware of that. ‘Good behaviour’ didn’t mean much to him, especially when some people asking for good behaviour were so ridiculously stupid or hypocritical. Still, he realized he wasn’t exactly the ‘perfect child’ or liked by many adults. That was something he was used to. 

The way his father looked at him definitely meant he was serious about the words he was speaking. He also didn’t really have a reason to lie about that particular topic. If anything, lying would make Santa less of a good person and, as the epitome of being able to judge good and bad, Santa couldn’t exactly start acting like a hypocrite. That would be the worst example to give to the children around the world, and definitely to his own. Then again, Karma already had a slightly warped and not too good an image of his own father. One which was built and created with years of experience now. 

“Seriously?” His father spoke again, after Karma remained silent. “Have you not noticed  _ all _ your gifts have been wrapped exclusively in ‘happy birthday’ wrapping paper?!” 

Looking back on it, all of his gifts had been more birthday themed than Christmas for years at that point. The colour scheme of his gifts and their wrapping was never the typical green and red and, well… yeah, all his wrapping paper had a print clearly reading the words “Happy Birthday” on them. Karma just figured it had been his dad’s odd way of compensating for missing his own son’s birthday. 

“I don’t know, I just saw the gifts,” Karma shrugged. 

“You just saw- ...Jesus Christ,” His father held back on raising his voice. “You know how much I have to assure the elves that those are  _ not _ Christmas presents?! You quite literally  _ do not deserve those _ .” 

Karma wasn’t sure how to feel about the whole ordeal. Obviously, he still wasn’t entirely blaming himself, his father was the one that left him all by himself throughout most of the year. Christmas was the worst period, but not the only one. He was angry at him for that, but his father wouldn’t own up to that, of course he wouldn’t. Really, he probably didn’t even care how the words ‘do not deserve’ hit Karma. Not that Karma showed much of a reaction to it. 

“I feel like you’re being too silent here” Santa said, “I brought you all the way here because I think you need to realize this stuff. This year, and actually for years now, you’ve been showing absolutely poor behaviour. It’s unacceptable, really. Do you have anything to say for yourself?” 

Taking a moment to think about his words, Karma let out a sigh and looked around. There was much to look at in Santa’s office, but he once again found himself looking at the snowglobe on the other side of the room. It was linked to his own through magic. He knew that he just had to shake his own to get his father’s attention and get him to be with him. It was given to him as a kid, the first Christmas his father had been Santa Claus. With it, his father assured him he’d be his father first, Santa second. 

“No,” Karma finally said, “not really.” 

\--------------------

When his father had dropped Karma back at home, he’d assured him he most likely couldn’t give him any presents this year. Whether they were for his birthday or Christmas, he said he could no longer maneuver his way around that for the elves. Karma had reached a new low. Right before he’d left, he’d expressed his disappointment one more time, before offering him the solution of still being able to change his behaviours if he really tried. 

That was a very Santa thing to Karma, always believing in the good of people like that. Well, maybe some people didn’t want to change. Karma didn’t need to change. He could celebrate his birthday  _ and  _ Christmas without his parents there. It had been that way for years anyways, this year it was just even more definite. Christmas without Santa was still Christmas. 

He grabbed his phone the moment he got inside. Because of everything that happened he’d just been too distracted to do anything but sulk and prepare for the worst of it. In the end, everything had ended up being relatively not that bad, at least that’s what Karma told himself. He also knew exactly what would make it fine again and it sure as hell wasn’t to do any school work. He had someone to text. 

**Karma:** hey nagisa, how dyou feel about the arcade tonight?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not check this chapter again. I wrote it and was gonna beta it myself a few hours later but minecraft made me motion sick. Deal with it.


	8. December 8th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karma and Nagisa have a fun night out... But it's not a date! I swear!

“Seriously?” Nagisa looked at him with wide eyes full of surprise. “How did they not call the cops?! You basically broke in!” 

Karma shrugged, very well aware of his luck considering the situation. Not that he was feeling very lucky at that moment. He’d only returned from his speedy trip to the North Pole about two hours ago and still very much felt the negative emotions that had come with the whole situation. Attempting to not confront those feelings or show Nagisa any of it, he put up his usual smug facade. 

“I  _ did _ break in, actually,” He corrected Nagisa, very well aware of the crimes he’d committed only a day earlier. “And should I feel insulted that you wanted them to call the cops on me?” 

“H-hey wait! I-I didn’t-” Nagisa stammered desperately. “I didn’t say I wanted- no!” 

A laugh escaped Karma as Nagisa’s words left him. Instantly Nagisa pouted at him, now very well aware of the way Karma was teasing him. This was their usual routine, and Karma loved it. Even with everything going on, he knew he could build on Nagisa to make him feel better. That was the exact reason he’d asked his friend to meet up, of course. Where they went didn’t even matter much, he just knew suggesting the arcade would awaken Nagisa’s inner nerd and get him to come. Plus, Karma liked the arcade, too. 

The way there wasn’t very long, but it sure was cold. Nagisa had forgotten his gloves that day and he’d articulated his complaints over that rather excessively. That was why Karma had found himself looking at Nagisa’s hand in the first place, as it was swinging along with his walking pace. His hands had turned a slight shade of red due to the cold air around them. 

For some reason, unbeknownst to Karma, he had felt a sudden urge to hold it. Without really thinking about it, he moved his own hand forwards and actually did, now looking at their entwined hands with much interest. In response, Nagisa jumped slightly due to the sudden touch and looked at Karma with confusion clearly showing in his eyes. 

“What are you doing?” Nagisa asked, tilting his head slightly. 

Instantly, Karma let go, turning his head away quickly. He attempted to ignore the heat he felt rising to his cheeks as he avoided Nagisa’s curious gaze. He wasn’t sure what had come unto him, but he really wished it hadn’t, because he was embarrassed now. 

Neither of them said anything as they stood still in the middle of the pavement. Karma didn’t want to say anything, wanting the moment to just pass and be forgotten, and Nagisa didn’t know what to say, not even really sure what was happening in the first place. The feeling in the air was nothing less than awkward and weird, and both of them were too lost to really do anything about it. Nagisa was about to try, though. 

“Y-you uh-” He started, only barely managing to let his words out. “Your hands are- are really warm.” 

Karma finally looked at his friend, a little puzzled by his friend's word and why he’d said them. He didn’t immediately find a reaction to it. It dawned on him he still hadn't responded to Nagisa either. Why had he done that? He didn’t even know. What was he supposed to tell Nagisa, then? Man, he felt like he looked like an absolute idiot. 

What really went through his mind was Nagisa’s hand, still. It had felt so cold when he touched it. He wasn’t sure if it was because his hands were so warm in comparison or because Nagisa’s natural body temperature was just so much lower, but it had felt like some kind of contrast to him. When focusing on his own hand, he thought he could still feel a tingling cold sensation in the exact spots where his hand had touched Nagisa’s. 

Nagisa let out a soft laugh, still awkward, but a little less so than before. “You could probably warm my hands up.” 

That exact sentence made it very hard for Karma to not grab his friend’s hand. For the rest of the way, however, he didn’t let their hands touch again. 

\--------------------

“And that’s another win for me,” Karma said proudly, sticking his tongue out. 

Nagisa, in response, just let out a little laugh as he rolled his eyes. Most likely, he hadn’t even been focussing much on the whole competitive aspect of their Taiko no Tatsujin competition. Karma could appreciate that. It somewhat told him that Nagisa was really just there to have fun. Of course Karma was, too, but he also  _ really _ enjoyed winning. 

His initial plan had definitely worked. For most of their time spent there, he was completely distracted and barely spent a single thought on Santa. He was just enjoying spending some time with Nagisa. Not that he could entirely ignore encountering any Christmas themes. Even the arcade had started decorating a little, showing off a tiny plastic tree and some fairy lights throughout the building. None of it was too obvious, which meant Karma could kind of ignore its presence if he just focused his eyes on a screen. 

Karma reached his hand out, stopping Nagisa’s as he went through the selection menu. He gave Nagisa an unimpressed look. That look was responded to with a confused one. 

“You’re playing  _ easy? _ ” Karma almost sounded offended. “What are you, five?” 

Nagisa looked at the screen awkwardly. “I’ve been losing all night…” 

The excuse was way too weak for Karma’s doing. Instead of letting Nagisa enjoy his evening by getting at least a bit of a decent score, he selected the medium level for him. When he looked Nagisa in the eye again, he knew Nagisa had admitted defeat. 

His friend let out a sigh before standing back and ready to play, not changing the difficulty. Karma stood behind him. He was ready to watch Nagisa play, hoping he’d do a little better after all the practice he’d had that night. Even if they’d played some other games, too, Nagisa had had enough time to get a little bit better at the drumming game. He may not have, which tempted Karma to stand behind Nagisa and grab ahold of his wrists in an attempt to teach him how to play properly. 

He didn’t do that. That was just asking for it to be taken wrongly. 

The song passed and, really, Nagisa had done decent enough. It wasn’t exactly a high score, but that wasn’t what was asked of him. Then again, Karma had surpassed his own high score a few times that day, so there was some comparison there. Lucky for Nagisa, they decided to stop playing that particular game, so he wouldn’t have to suffer from his average performance any longer. Not that either of them really knew what to do next, so they kept dwelling, just standing next to the machine. They’d leave if someone wanted to play on it, probably. 

“Kinda getting hungry,” Karma admitted, sounding a little like he was whining, but mostly for the joke of it. “I don’t think I’ve eaten since lunchtime.” 

Nagisa looked at him concerned, now. Of course, Karma hadn’t intended to worry him. It really wasn’t even that bad. Right after school he’d sorta had a small trip across the world, and when he came back he didn’t really feel like preparing some food in his kitchen. He wanted the distraction he’d gotten from being at the arcade. Besides, he could eat now. 

“I’m sure there’s some place we could go,” Nagisa thought out loud. “McDonalds is around the corner, I guess…” 

Their thoughts of food were interrupted by the sudden eruption of noise coming from behind them. Both of them turned around, with great speed that reflected on their trained reflexes, only to see that there wasn’t really anything wrong. The noise had come from a group of people near the entrance of the arcade, mostly consisting of younger kids surrounding one adult. 

The adult in question was dressed as Santa Claus, which was probably why the children were surrounding him. Many kids would get enthusiastic over some man dressed up as someone that iconic, whether they believed in him or not. Though, to be fair, Santa had become a much bigger thing in Japan in the last few years. People generally liked a big man that gave them gifts. 

Karma, on the other hand, wasn’t a very big fan of him. 

Without really thinking about it, Karma threw one of the drumsticks from the game they had been playing before in the direction of the Santa situation. It didn’t really throw that far, considering he hadn’t actually put in that much effort. Instead, it hit some Love Live figurine claw machine and, though it  _ really _ hadn’t been a hard throw, it put a crack on the glass. 

Before Karma had even processed the situation, some arcade worker had approached them, angrily lecturing them on the damage they’d done. Nagisa was frantically apologizing, saying that they hadn’t intended for it and it wouldn’t happen again and all that. The worker just told them off for throwing the arcade materials and asked them to leave. Not wanting any more trouble, Nagisa dragged Karma long with him. 

All Karma could think about was that there was  _ no way _ that was his fault. There must have been something wrong with the machine for it to break so easily. Those machine’s had to be, like, anti theft and all. Then again, he wasn’t sure anyone really wanted to steal some red haired idol figurine from an arcade. There were some crazy fans, though, who would want like ten of those on their bedroom shelf. 

All his thinking had completely drowned out Nagisa, who was raising his voice at him, ranting about the stupid thing Karma had just done. He hadn’t caught every word of it, obviously, but he definitely got that Nagisa was angry at him for getting them kicked out like that. Karma caught on the last thing Nagisa said, where he asked him why on earth he’d even done it. 

“I didn’t like the santa..” Karma said, hoping he didn’t sound too crazy. 

“Neither did I!” Nagisa retaliated. “But I didn’t decide to throw a  _ drumstick _ at him!” 

Karma let that sink in, finding Nagisa’s comment a little odd. To Karma, it felt like he had a very decent reason to hate Santa Claus. Perhaps throwing stuff at a dressed up man wasn’t exactly right, however, it wasn’t like he was trying to hurt the impersonator. Karma had barely thought about his actions. The consequences definitely hadn’t been on his mind. 

The odd thing, however, was the fact that Nagisa said  _ he _ didn’t like the Santa. That raised some questions, such as did he hate impersonators, Santa, Christmas traditions? Considering his and Nagisa’s previous talks on Christmas, Karma had his assumptions. Whether they were right, he’d love to find out. 

“Wait why do you hate santa?” Karma asked, curious to know. “Is he the reason you don’t like Chris-” 

“Does that even matter?!?” Nagisa looked at him with big accusing eyes, ones Karma really despised. “let’s- Let’s just get food, or whatever…” 

They walked to the nearest McDonalds in silence, neither of them really sure what would be the best thing to say next. The way there was awkward, to say the least, and only after Karma came back with their food did Nagisa talk to him again. He’d probably needed a moment to organize his thoughts. The first thing he asked Karma was why he’d really done it. Karma said he really just didn’t like Santa Claus. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I edited this chapter even less. I just wanna go play Minecraft, bros.


	9. December 9th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karma at home, what's gonna happen next?

By the time the weekend had come around, Karma felt absolutely exhausted. He wasn’t entirely sure what was tiring him out so badly, but he figured it was a type of mental thing. The weight of that particular year’s Christmas experience was weighing down on him quite a lot. It had become quite obvious that everything was very different this year. 

He’d gotten a little sad and attempted to try and cheer himself up by going through his graduation album. What he’d been hoping for was fun pictures and silly outfits from their class photoshoot he could have a bit of a laugh at and, for a large part of his browsing, that was exactly what he got. The point was that their superhuman teacher had left notes and advice for them in anything he’d left behind. Karma couldn’t help but read those encouraging words with Korosensei’s voice in his mind. 

The particular page he got stuck on was meant to be kind and cheer him up. It informed him that he’d have friends around him and that, if he were to need it, he should trust them and maybe a few adults in his life too. After all, not everything could be solved by those who were still considered children. As angering as that may be, sometimes it was best to accept that and do so together. 

Karma knew he had friends, he hadn’t been hanging out with Nagisa so much for nothing. Well, he tended to hang out with him more these days anyways, just because it was fun. But now that he wasn’t feeling that well, he’d called on him even more. He supposed he had other friends from 3E he could message, but he still felt insecure about doing so every once in a while. With how he was feeling now, it only made sense to himself that he didn’t want to. Most social interactions were too tiring anyways. 

A little done with the book in his hands and the memories it was bringing him, he put it aside and directed himself towards the window. His street wasn’t usually  _ too _ interesting, but when you needed a simple direction, just about anything would do. At least at that particular moment, there were enough people walking through the street for Karma to find something to look at. 

There was a family passing by, the two children basically dragging their parents forwards yelling probably about whatever they were going to. It was a rather nice winter day, and there was sure to be a lot of fun for kids to play in the snow somewhere. Karma assumed they’d be going to some park. Perhaps he should do the same? Just to get out of the house for a bit. 

Other than them, there were a few people walking by on their own. None of them seemed very interesting at first, but when a man in probably his mid-forties slipped on the cold floor, Karma found his usual enjoyment in that. Sadly, he didn’t entirely fall, instead catching himself on a street lantern, so the entertainment wasn’t optimal. 

Suddenly, from the corner of his eyes, a flash of black passed through Karma’s sight. He wasn’t entirely sure what he’d seen, not really convinced on the matter’s size or shape, but he was pretty sure it had moved right next to his window. As a matter of fact, he was pretty sure it moved away from the window the moment he’d moved forward a little to watch the falling man. 

Karma didn’t know what it was, but it didn’t feel entirely right to him. In his mind, he couldn’t imagine anyone was going to break in when he was at home, and definitely not when in broad daylight. Of course Karma wasn’t afraid, but he still felt like he didn’t want to be alone either. 

\--------------------

So, Karma had called Nagisa over… again. There was some kind of pattern forming there, but Karma wasn’t about to admit to anything on that aspect. Then again, before he’d asked Nagisa to meet up somewhere with him, now he’d asked him to come to his house. It was very different, obviously. 

When Nagisa’d asked him why he wanted to hang out so suddenly, again, he just shrugged it off. He wasn’t sure if he should tell Nagisa about what he’d seen. Though he was sure Nagisa wouldn’t judge him for his suspicious feelings over the situation, he felt like he should keep it to himself for a little longer. Instead, he just told him his house felt a little silent and that having someone around would be more fun. 

“Oh, trust me I don’t mind,” Nagisa assured him, giving him nothing other than a kind smile. “I’m honestly a little glad to be out of the house, my mom’s been doing nothing but complain all day.” 

Karma let out a little laugh. “Old lady broke her hip?” 

“Don’t  _ say that _ ,” Nagisa told him off. “She’s sensitive about that…” 

They ended up just sitting in his room, Nagisa on his bed as Karma sat on his desk chair while trying to get some tiny speaker to work. He swore to Nagisa he’d charged it, which Nagisa was a little sceptical about. The thing was that he’d known him for longer than a day and knew he’d probably been a little too lazy to remind himself to prepare for this kind of occasion. When he forced Karma to just plug it in, it finally worked. 

Nagisa wasn’t one to let out an ‘I told you so’, but the energy was there in the room. 

Before his friend could put forward any suggestions for the music, Karma had connected the speaker to his phone, using bluetooth, and started the exact playlist he’d had in his mind from the start. The moment the music started, Nagisa gave him an irritated look and let out a sigh befitting of it. Karma just smiled at him in response. He’d put on a Christmas playlist. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Nagisa complained, and before he could speak Karma raised his hand to stop him. 

“I just think you need to get into the spirit,” He simply told his friend. “Nothing gets you into the Christmas spirit like some good old Christmas music. Getting into the spirit is the reason most people start playing it the moment December starts, even though they’ll get absolutely sick of it when Christmas actually comes around. It’s in the  _ feeling,  _ the  _ hype _ .” 

Nagisa didn’t appear to be very hyped. However, he accepted his fate and made an attempt to just not listen to the music. His best shot was to drown it out with a conversation or his own thoughts. At first, he started the conversation strategy, seeing as he was over at Karma’s place anyways. It was kind of normal to try and socialize in that situation, though he and Karma could perfectly well hang out by just being in the same room, in silence, both doing something for themselves. 

Just as Nagisa was caught complaining about the music once again, getting rather negative about the weirdly sexual tone of  _ Santa Baby _ and it being evidence of how weird Christmas music was, Karma heard his doorbell ring. Both he and Nagisa turned their heads in the direction of the noise, Karma being the one to stand up to go and get it, obviously. He tossed his phone at Nagisa. 

“When I come back I wanna hear you listening to more Christmas music,” He pointed at his friend accusingly. 

Then, he left his room and approached the door, wondering who on earth could possibly be at his door. The moment he opened it, he was a little confused. At first he thought there was no one there. Just when the thought of any kids trying to mess with him came to his mind he heard a loud cough asking for his attention. He finally looked down. 

In front of his door stood a tiny man, probably about the same height as a tall 10 year old, whose actual physique actually made him appear older than that, though still youthful. His pointy ears were visible from behind his unevenly cut dark hair, which also framed his eyes that were giving Karma a bitter look. This was unmistakably an elf, one Karma assumed to be working for Santa. Considering he was standing in front of  _ his _ door, Karma felt that was a right assumption to make. Also, he’d never met an elf that didn’t work for his dad. 

“Karma Akabane,” The tiny man said, his voice matching the unhappy look in his eyes. “I would say it was a pleasure to see you, but you’re not exactly a joy to us elves.” 

Karma raised an eyebrow at him. He didn’t know why this elf was there at his house, but he really wasn’t feeling it. There was a friend of his in his bedroom he really wanted to get back to, who was easily a lot more fun than this man would be. Though, he wasn’t even sure if this elf was really a ‘man’. He also didn’t care, and just wanted the conversation to pass over. 

“If you’re here to tell me about the naughty list,” Karma showed the irritation in his voice as he spoke. “I’ve been made very well aware of that fact.” 

Oddly enough, the elf barely responded to him. He wasn’t very elf-like to Karma. Most of the other leves he’d met were cheerful, innocent, and kind to nearly everyone they encountered. Just how much must this elf hate him for him to appear at his door with that attitude. Then again, Karma had a knack of annoying people a lot, so he wasn’t entirely surprised that some elves would have a hard time acting nice to him. 

“I’m not here for that,” The elf finally answered him. “And, honestly, I think you know exactly why I’m here. I’m keeping an eye on you, you  _ menace _ to the Christmas spirit.” 

“Menace to- what?” Karma looked at him with confusion clear on his face. “What are you talking about?!” 

His reaction was genuine. Karma had absolutely no idea what this elf was talking about. Yes, he hadn’t been an exact lover of Santa, he’d even attacked a man dressed up as him, but to call him the enemy of Christmas for that? Christmas wasn’t just about Santa, really. And even if he was, it wasn’t like Karma was preventing Santa from doing his job, just attempting to make him feel bad about the things he’d sacrificed for that function. 

He wasn’t sure what to think of the situation. It didn’t help that the elf just glared at him in response. Perhaps he was waiting for Karma to admit to something. Karma didn’t feel like there was something to admit to. The elf must have realized that after about a minute of silence, because he spoke up himself, instead. 

“The fact that you won’t even come forward with it says a lot,” The elf’s voice sounded judgemental. “Just know that even if Santa Claus doesn’t want to admit your guilt in everything, I will do everything I can to bring to light everything that is happening. No one can ruin Christmas.” 

Karma blinked a few times before he figured out how serious the lef was being. Whatever he was complaining about, Karma didn’t feel particularly guilty about anything. The only solution to the problem at that moment, was to just end it. 

“well, good luck with that.” Karma said, and he closed the door. 

Without thinking about the odd encounter any further, mostly because he didn’t feel like it, he went up the stairs again. There weren’t many expectations on his mind as he walked up. He came back to his room to find Nagisa laying on his bed, focused on some game on Karma’s DS while Elvis Presley’s  _ Blue Christmas _ was playing through the speaker. 

“Not what I meant,” Karma said, referring to the depressing music. 

Nagisa doesn’t immediately answer him, focused on the device in his hands. He eyed him for only a few seconds before returning his gaze to the screen. It felt to Karma like he should be saying something about it, but in some way, he really just couldn’t be bothered. 

“I suppose it counts,” He sighed, joining Nagisa on the bed. “ _ technically. _ ”

Leaning in to look on the screen how Nagisa was doing, Karma was very well aware of how close his arm was to that of Nagisa. Honestly, he was doing a little shitty at the game he was playing. Karma wanted to take over from him, but that would insinuate moving, and he didn’t really feel like it. Yeah, showing Nagisa how to win at some game was nice, but the effort of it really wasn’t. 

Only then had Karma noticed Nagisa had put the song on repeat. If listening to it once didn’t make him ‘blue’, the fourth time sure did the trick. Still, he couldn’t help but listen, the music playing through the room really being an attention grabber. He really did try to focus on the game more, even tried to hyper focus on Nagisa, but he couldn’t help but hear Elvis’s word penetrate his mind. 

_ “ _ _ I'll have a blue Christmas without you _

_ I'll be so blue just thinking about you~” _

“These lyrics are making me sad” Karma said, his voice sounding a little whiny. 

Nagisa’s focused expression didn’t change. “Then let me put on anything other than Christmas music.” 

“Never” 

And so, Karma dealt with the sad feeling washing over him. He was sure he was showing it on his face, too. It wasn’t like he was trying to manipulate Nagisa into wanting to put something else on, but if Nagisa happened to feel bad for him, he wouldn’t mind entirely either. Not that Nagisa was really responding to his behaviour, rather, he just remained playing his game. 

Karma started outing a little. Really, he just wanted his friend to enjoy the holidays. He wasn't the bad guy! If Nagisa would just interact more with the fun aspects of Christmas, he was sure to love it. It was such a cozy time of the year to spend with loved ones. The thought of Nagisa being so ignoring of it made him feel bad. He let out a loud, obnoxious, sigh to clarify that. 

“Jesus Christ,  _ Karma _ ,” Nagisa finally spoke. “Why do you want me to enjoy Christmas so badly? Is it really that bad for me to not like one particular holiday?!” 

The attacking tone in his voice had scared Karma a little. He’d nearly sounded like he was hissing at him, turning his head at him to show him his scary eyes. If anything, it felt a little like Nagisa had gone into assassin mode, which most likely meant something had really snapped inside of him. That was something Karma felt bad about, partly because he was afraid of it. 

“Sorry,” He said, feeling a little defeated. “Believe it or not, I just wanted you to enjoy this time of year…The same way I used to.” 

Nagisa looked at him with a curious look in his eyes. There was definitely some anger left in there, but most of it had faded and been replaced by something which Karma found himself compare to him feeling bad for Karma. That wasn’t entirely what he’d wanted to happen, but there was no going back from it. So he just waited for Nagisa to speak. When he finally did, Karma was a little surprised. 

“Fine… well,” Nagisa didn’t look him in the eye anymore. “Maybe it’s time I tell you why I don’t like Christmas.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not even a read through happened here, don't come for me.


	10. December 10th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa explains why he doesn't like Christmas.

They’d ended up sitting on the end of Karma’s bed for their conversation. Well, it was hardly supposed to be a conversation. Nagisa was supposed to be the one talking, but it was very predictable that Karma wasn’t just going to sit there and listen to a story. They probably hadn’t considered that fact actively when Nagisa started, but perhaps they had done so subconsciously. 

“I don’t know if I have to consider it…. that  _ deep _ or anything,” Nagisa started out, his hands resting on his lap looking twitchy like they really wanted to fidget. “From what I remember, we celebrated Christmas when I was younger, though n-not in any... grand manner or anything, it was still very casual. But, you know, Christmas was a couple’s thing first and, well, m-my mom’s love live isn’t… great…” 

Karma nodded. “I’ve noticed she was single for a while, yes.” 

“Don’t say it like that,” Nagisa complained. “That sounds like you’re into her!” 

“I’m not into divorced middle aged women… or my best friend’s mother.” 

“J-just shut up!” 

Nagisa collected himself again. He took in a deep breath and let it out even louder, closing his eyes to avoid Karma’s stupid grin. When he did finally look back at him, Karma definitely saw that he’d found it a little funny. Then again, Karma could also sense Nagisa just wanted to continue his talk. 

So, Karma gave a solemn nod, gesturing to him to continue and that he’d be serious now. Nagisa gave him a peculiar look that Karma couldn’t quite read, staying silent for a bit, before he spoke up again. This time, Karma just listened, trying to show genuine interest on his face, too. 

“right, so…” Nagisa tried to recall the way his story had been going. “We never were the biggest Christmas fanatics, but then my dad left me and my mom, like, a week before Christmas. That… didn’t exactly make the holidays very great. E-even if there weren’t any big plans it really- it really ruined everything that  _ was _ there... It’s kind of funny that- well, I was convinced for that  _ entire week _ that my dad would come back. And then Christmas came around the corner… and he didn’t.” 

Unsure what to say, Karma gave his friend a sympathetic look. He really hadn’t known about any of that. Yes, sure, he knew Nagisa’s dad had left, divorced his mother when he was still very young, but for that to happen right before Christmas… He supposed it was a valid reason for Nagisa to associate Christmas with that much negativity. To imagine Karma'd been so pushy about it, when to Nagisa it may have brought up many bad memories. 

“But that’s not where it ends,” Nagisa continued with a grim sigh. “The year after, I wanted to make the  _ perfect _ Christmas, to make everything great again for me and my mom. However, my mom wasn’t really- uh, interested in that. I tried to surprise her with some small Christmas decorations in the living room, mind you I was a kid so it definitely wasn’t big, or anything. I just made these- uh, paper garlands and cut out these snowflake thingies they do in kindergarten. Even presented them to her with the pride of an artist showing off his magnum opus. 

She, however, didn’t like it. It’s a bit vague by now because it’s been so long but… I know she’d raised her voice, first of all, which was as upsetting as it usually was. Then she ripped apart the stuff I made… The-the decorations I mean! It was as if everything Christmas just brought out- out something, uh- like she was-” 

“Kind of like the Grinch?” 

Nagisa looked at him awkwardly. “I think so? I’ve never actually seen that movie.” 

That wasn’t a problem Karma was going to confront, he could actually forgive that fact. Even if he was talking to someone who enjoyed Christmas, the Grinch wasn’t on his priority list of Christmas elements. Not that he had anything against people who did. 

Even if all of it sounded pretty depressing and bad, Karma couldn’t help but think about a certain aspect for a moment. Sure, little Nagisa may have suffered from a quite non-existing Christmas throughout most of his life, mostly because his mother had banned it from their house, and Karma could imagine his mother would get in more bad moods around this time of the year. That would make, and probably has been making, Nagisa’s life hell in plenty of ways. But something about this particular situation didn’t seem entirely right. 

“But your dad’s back isn’t he?” Karma asked, recalling Nagisa’s parents promising to try and work their things out after their talk with Korosensei. “If he’ll be here this Christmas, not even your mother will have those shitty associations right? If anything, she has all the more reason to  _ want  _ to celebrate something with her family. 

As soon as Karma saw the look on Nagisa’s face, he knew he was wrong. It had made sense to him though. Hiromi Shiota had a sort of complete family, it would have to make her hate for Christmas a little less bad, if anything. Even if the first Christmas would be awkward again, Nagisa’s parents would soon realize how great it was that they got that time with their son. Karma wanted them to appreciate special moments with their child. 

“Things… haven’t been that great,” Nagisa admitted. 

Karma gave his friend a questioning look. He wasn’t entirely sure what to think. Admittedly, he wasn’t an expert on family bonds, but he realized Nagisa’s “bad” was usually pretty bad, because for anything non-catastrophically, Nagisa wouldn’t usually speak up. Actually, sometimes he wouldn’t even speak up then. 

“What, like, financially? or more-” 

“Between my parents,” Nagisa interrupted him, avoiding eye contact as he held a melancholy look on his face. “They-they’re fighting again, really never agreeing on a-any kind of decision. Dad even said he missed making independent decisions and the quiet from when he was by himself, which, really is just great to hear. And then mom gets all angry with him because he doesn’t do things the way she does and- Well, I’m starting to think that maybe people get a divorce for a reason.” 

He may have said the last part with a little laugh escaping him, but it was clear that it wasn’t funny at all. Everything Nagisa had ever dreamed of happening was being crushed right in front of him. It was a mess, and it sure didn’t help that Karma was a mess too, because he didn’t know what to say in response. He was pretty sure this wasn’t one of those cases where you start adding your own problems to the mix to make the other person feel better. Not that Karma knew what kind of case it was then. 

And so both of them remained silent, because Nagisa was done talking, and Karma didn’t know how to start talking. Neither of them wanted the room to remain silent. Then again, neither of them wanted to speak up either. So their silence filled the room, the same time that the awkwardness completely settled in, too. 

“I’m sorry,” Karma finally let out. 

Nagisa looked up at him, the same sad look in his eyes. He wasn’t upset because he’d told Karma about his situation, but just about it happening in the first place. Reality wasn’t great, and both he and Karma had enough problems going for them that weren’t related to their parents. And somehow, it seemed like the biggest struggle to both of them at that moment. 

“Yeah,” Nagisa said softly. “so am I.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa isn't sorry about the situation, he's sorry about two other things. The first one is that his wishing for his parents getting back together was the reason for everything being shit, the second one is that he shared it with Karma, because he doens't want Karma to worry about him or make him think badly of his seemingly favourite holiday (and yet again, birthday). 
> 
> This chapter didn't have evrything I wanted in there.... meaning I'l have some even longer chapters later on just cuz the Santa story lines needs to get going. Also I'll still post a chapter on the 25th too, even if it's 24days of Christmas. I just need it for the story to work out and uh...well you'll see why else.


	11. December 11th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karma has a feeling

With the way things were going, Karma didn’t think he’d be having a great Christmas that year. He’d tried to invite Nagisa over for that day, even promised he’d make it all about his birthday, because he really didn’t mind that attention from Nagisa at all, but Nagisa had expressed he wasn’t entirely sure what to do yet. It was understandable, given the story he’d only just told Karma. He probably just wanted to live through the holidays and move forwards from it. 

That didn’t leave Karma with many options on what to do for Christmas. He sure as hell didn’t have to bother with the thought of getting any attention from his parents. Sure, it was a little sad, but Karma was really trying to accept it. Perhaps he’d even do so  _ without _ vandalism, this time. After all, at least this year it had been made very clear to him what the situation was. 

Time had passed, and before Karma knew it, the last day of school before break had come and Christmas was only 5 days away. The weather hadn’t changed, the layer of snow only added to as much as had already melted, meaning the outside world was pretty yet still manageable to move through. It almost seemed too perfect. 

It was around this time that Karma had started feeling like something was off. He wasn’t sure what it was, nor could he really describe the feeling really well, the best he could call it was that it was a feeling in his gut. Something about that felt odd to him too. The words “feeling in his gut” almost recalled some kind of memory to him, but he couldn’t bring it forth entirely. So he continued through his days slightly irritated that he couldn’t figure it out even though it was on the tip of his tongue. 

When the last school bell rang, he knew he wasn’t exactly free just yet. All the other students may have been, but  _ he _ still had detention to go through. 

The classroom in which detention was held that day was almost completely empty, its only occupants being him and a third year teacher. Karma didn’t get why he’d even really needed to have detention that day, the cleaners had started doing their pre-break work and most teachers were already going home and he could only assume the teacher in front of him wanted to as well. Not that he could know for sure, because the man wouldn’t even talk to him. 

At least that’s how it’d started out, in silence. However, after what seemed like an eternity, but was really only twenty minutes, the teacher finally spoke up, surprising Karma with the odd deepness of his voice. Really, Karma had expected some boring ass lecturing voice, but this man sounded like he was supposed to be some cool voice actor. 

“Look,” His deep voice made Karma look up at him immediately. “I can’t let you go early, because there is no way the board won’t find out about that… But I want to get through this hour too, and I don’t like the silence and doing nothing.” He took out his phone and earbuds. “I won’t tell if you won’t.” 

Karma figured that seemed about right. Not that he was disrespecting his teacher or anything, but he knew past Karma would have called him a hypocrite and selfish bastard. Luckily, present Karma had learned that teachers were humans too, somewhat. So he just nodded his head and grabbed his own phone. When the teacher didn’t say anything about it, he knew this was a fair deal. Karma could respect that. 

It wasn’t like Karma had much to do on his phone. He could watch some videos online, or maybe try to text someone, but he just wasn’t sure. In the end, he just scrolled through social media, hoping to find something that would at least mildly entertain him for a few seconds and perhaps even inspire some other kind of action. Ten minutes passed without such an inspiring thing happening, but at least he was kind of entertained. 

Well, kept busy was a better phrasing for it. 

Out of nowhere, a sound surprised him. The sudden sound of some kind of song with bells made Karma look up from his phone to find the source. Nothing appeared to have changed in the classroom, at a first glance, but the fast acting from his teacher who hurriedly fumbled with some loose hanging earphones felt like a clear clue. Surely enough, the sound was coming from the teacher’s phone. 

The song that was playing was some pop-rock cover of ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’. To be honest, Karma hadn’t been expecting his teacher to be listening to Christmas music, let alone of that genre, but that fact didn’t hold him back from letting his mind race in the moment. The song sparked something in him. 

What came to Karma’s mind was the exact memory he’d been trying to pinpoint throughout the day. It came to him clear as day as a male voice singing about Santa Claus always being around came to his ears. It was a memory of Santa, and a possibly important one for this occasion, too. 

\--------------------

He’d ran home. Well, he started out running, but the chaos around the train station was  _ horrible  _ and held him up quite a bit. Even there he found himself surrounded by imagery of Santa all around him. His dad came in the shape of plushies, cardboard cutouts, and even in food. Karma wasn’t sure he’d ever be comfortable eating any pancake shaped like his own father. 

The entire way home he’d felt his foot tapping as he stood. Though he may have been aware that the train couldn’t go much faster, he still complained very vividly in his mind about how he’d needed to “be somewhere” and that it “would be very kind of you to hurry up, train”. Needless to say, the train did not listen to his remarks, and followed its same speed. 

So, the moment he  _ did _ finally reach his house, he felt like he was in some kind of hurry. Rationally speaking, he knew he wasn’t. He did, however, really want some answers. Oddly enough he needed something from his own room to get those answers, because he needed to reach out to someone who would be able to answer his questions, even if he probably didn’t want to. 

When he came into his room he was a little confused. His stuff was a little all over the place. Not to the degree that it appeared thrown around, but just slightly out of place instead. A suspicious feeling came over Karma. He didn’t know how it had happened, but he knew he hadn’t been responsible for it. After all, he definitely didn’t remember throwing his blanket on the ground that morning. 

The thought of someone having entered his house came to his mind, however it didn’t seem very plausible. If someone had come in, why would they have left everything so relatively okay. Weirdest of all, none of his things appeared to be missing, not even the more expensive stuff like his playstation or small golden statues. On top of that, the rest of the house had been entirely fine to him. That didn’t seem like typical burglar behaviour at all. 

Once again, his instinct kicked in. That same feeling in his gut of something being wrong, though unsure what, took him over. His eyes scanned his room, going to his desk to look for the one thing he definitely hoped hadn’t somehow disappeared. It hadn’t. The snowglobe was still there. 

With a little more force than necessary, Karma picked up the snowglobe and shook it violently. He watched the snow dwindle down behind the glass, slowly starting to cover the tiny santa and sleigh that were sculpted inside of it. 

Any second. 

It would happen.

Any second now.

A loud crashing noise forced Karma to take his eyes from the object in his hands. Wherever it had come from, it was close to him, and probably higher. Still holding the snowglobe in his hand, he made his way out of his room. He descended the stairs and speed walked to the front door. He didn’t find the time to put on his proper shoes, instead running outside in his houseshoes, and looking up immediately. There, he saw the exact person he’d been thinking about. 

“Hey dad?” Karma greeted Santa Clause. “Why’d you land the sleigh on our roof in broad daylight?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate this chapter. I just need to go to the good part again but today isn't a good writing day, so... sorry if this isn't that great.


	12. December 12th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two conversations, one is more fun than the other.

“So you called me because you have a feeling in your gut?” His father asked him sceptically. 

“Yes,” Karma said. “Also someone broke into the house.”

That comment confused his father, causing him to look around the living room with a little more seriousness showing on his face now. However, there wasn’t really anything wrong with their living room, Karma knew that much. Of course his father noticed the same. 

“What’d they take?” He asked, very confused considering all their valuables were still in the room. 

“Well, I don’t think they took anything,” Karma awkwardly managed to say. “I just- I mean nothing’s wrong here but my room feels o-” 

“You’ve called me here on a few hunches and feelings,” His father concluded, irritating Karma because he didn’t let him speak. “You use your snowglobe, which is meant for  _ serious _ situations, because you had a weird feeling. And you did it  _ days _ before Christmas?!” 

Well, when his father put it like that, Karma couldn’t help but feel a little stupid. It also made him feel bad in the sense that he’d called for his own father, who he figured should care about his son’s worries, and was on the point where he would get scolded. Getting told off itself didn’t bother him much, his worries of those talks really having lost their magic on him by that point, but the overall sentiment of the situation was just shitty. 

It was true that he’d called his father at a rather inconvenient time. And even though his father was disappointed in him, Karma supposed he should consider himself lucky that Santa used his sleigh to get to him fast. The sleigh which had confused him a little when his father landed it on the roof. He really just forgot that, on the right occasion, the sleigh would hide itself from civilians. The magic of the sleigh let Karma see it though, which Karma supposed was some ‘son of Santa’ thing. 

“Does it help if I say I’m really serious about this? More serious than I usually am about things.” Karma tried to get his father to listen to him. “This feeling is exactly like how you described your Santa’s gut thing, with you- uh… belly, or w-whatever.” 

His father looked at him curiously after he said that. Though Karma didn’t quite understand how that was enough to finally convince his dad to listen to him, he was glad he was, at least. That’s what prompted him to continue. 

“Remember how you told me, your first Santa year, that you had a feeling in your belly?” He continued. “And how the same happened when a gone rogue elf was messing up your Christmas wrapping and replacing it with easter paper? The elves told you that feeling was a Santa sense, and that it meant something was off with Christmas and I- well I don’t know how, but I’m feeling that now, I think.” 

The room remained silent for a bit as his father showed confusion on his face, looking away from his son’s eyes. He sat down on their couch, seeming deep in thought, as if he was considering what to do next. Maybe he was. Karma couldn’t know until he spoke up. 

He’d been telling the truth. The memories of his dad’s Santa sense had come to him earlier that day when he heard his teacher’s Christmas music, and it seemed to fit his situation just a little too well. Besides, from his one visit to the North Pole, he felt his guess was right about something being wrong with Christmas. After all, the chaos in Santa’s factory was quite a scene. 

“There is something wrong,” his father finally said. “I can’t tell you exactly what it is because, well, you know, Santa business, but- It feels like someone is sabotaging Christmas this year.”

Those words surprised Karma a little. Sabotage Christmas? That was a rather big task to do. This person would have to manage to ruin all Santa’s work  _ and _ his backup plan if they really wanted to succeed. By the look of his father’s face, Karma could only assume they were doing a rather good job of it, as impossible as it seemed. On top of that, it just seemed weird for someone to want to do that. You’d have to really hate Christmas to want to ruin it for other people too. 

“Who do you think is doing it?” Karma asked his father, hoping for more information. 

“I don’t know,” Santa admitted, “But I’ll remember what happened here as we try to figure that out, just in case.” 

\--------------------

“You’re asking me out for dinner?” Nagisa’s voice rang through Karma’s phone, sounding a little puzzled. 

Karma had to force himself to calm down as he held the phone to his ear. He tried to convince himself that this was a friends thing, that he wanted to have a fun evening with his friend and that this was possibly the only way he’d agree to joining him. The idea had come to him a little randomly, because any time he now thought of how shitty Christmas was and that, apparently, someone was trying to ruin it even more, he just thought of Nagisa. That was a really sad thing for someone to be reminded of you, perhaps. 

“Yes,” He said, trying to sound solemn. “Tomorrow evening.” 

The voice on the other side kept quiet in what to Karma felt like an insecure tension. Perhaps he’d made the whole thing a little awkward. Why’d he want to ask Nagisa out for dinner, of all things? That was just stupid. Of course Nagisa was looking for a reason to say no. 

He regretted it. It wasn’t like he could do much about it now. If he suddenly came out and said “haha, just kidding, have a good night, bye!” he’d just sound even more stupid and mean. Friends could go out for dinner, he and Nagisa had eaten dinner before. Then again, it usually wasn’t just dinner. They’d always had plans for something to do and dinner just came into the mix by default because of their timing issues. He couldn’t make this sound the same as those cases now. 

“I mean I- I guess I don’t have anything planned?” The sound of Nagisa’s voice interrupted Karma’s thoughts, making him focus on the actual conversation at hand again. “Not that I- Well, I just- I should ask my mom, uh- give me a second.” 

There was a rustling sound and some muffled noises of opening doors and Nagisa, Karma assumed, walking through his house. He could softly hear Nagisa’s voice as he asked his mother if he could have dinner with a friend the next day. The sound of his mother was so quiet and far away that Karma couldn’t hear it, even though he was holding his breath and staying ever so silent so he could hear what was going on. 

Nagisa’s voice could be heard again, a little harder to hear this time. The only words Karma could make out were his name and “close”, with which Karma could make some assumptions about what was being discussed. Sadly, he did need to breathe by now, so the sound of his own breath washed out the voices speaking on the other hand of the line. Karma almost wished he didn’t have to breathe so he could just listen properly already. 

“Yeah, so,” Nagisa’s voice returned loud and clear to the phone’s mic. “Yes, sure.” 

For a moment Karma remained silent. He blinked a few times before the words Nagisa had said hit him. The moment he really realized what was going on, he felt a weird feeling in his chest, one that he wasn’t sure if he’d ever felt before. Whether it was a good thing or not was yet to be determined. 

“You’ll go out with me?” Karma sounded a little too happy. “ _ for dinner _ , I mean… obviously.” 

Nagisa let out an awkward laugh through the phone. “Uh, yeah. Dinner t-tomorrow.” 

Karma had a hard time with getting the obnoxiously big smile off his face. He tried to look for a piece of paper on his desk, needing something to write on. After grabbing around for a bit, he found himself to grow impatient, and ripped a part out of some book that was lying around. He sure hoped that wasn’t important. Lastly, he grabbed a pen and held it ready to write. 

“What time’s good for you?” He asked eagerly. “I’m pretty much fine with any time.” 

“Hm, sometime after six?” Nagisa suggested, his voice a little softer than usual. “I-I mean, yeah, six.” 

Careful to make it legible, Karma wrote down the time and the places he was considering taking Nagisa to. He wouldn’t want anything too expensive, Karma knew that much. There were enough places in town or decently accessible by train timewise which fit the idea Karma had in mind for the next evening. In his head, he told himself to go over their menus, just to make sure there would be enough food Nagisa would like. 

“Right, I’ll see you tomorrow at six,” Karma said. “I’ll send you the place in a bit, okay?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I have a Santa main plot line... but consider... Karmagisa is so fun to write :)
> 
> I legit enjoy writing Karmagisa interactions so much. They instantly make me feel like a chapter is better, too. So yeah, they plan a not-a-date (maybe a date).


	13. December 13th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karma has a... not date to prepare for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only a day too late :)

What does one even wear when they go out for dinner? 

That was the question Karma was asking himself as he looked at the pile of clothes he’d dumped on his bed before. The best approach would probably be to try some things out, but he really felt like that was way too much effort. Why couldn’t he just  _ know? _ It was his own wardrobe, he should be able to figure out what was in there and what was right for the occasion. 

He’d probably just wear jeans. It wasn’t the fanciest thing but, well, he didn’t want to overdo it. A bit more casual was probably better. Nagisa would, most likely, go casual too, his fashion sense wasn’t all that special, after all. If he arrived at the restaurant somehow outshowing Nagisa, that would just be awkward. 

As he found himself standing in front of the mirror, still not trying on any of his clothes to find the right ones, he considered what he’d gotten himself into. Every thought spent on his plans with Nagisa for that night had revolved around the idea of it having to be perfect. He’d literally taken  _ hours _ to decide what place to take his friend, and only ended up making his decision because said friend texted him to ask for it, and he didn’t want to let Nagisa wait too long. 

He let out a sigh as he let himself fall back onto his bed, not caring that he fell into the pie of clothes. His room was a mess by now, anyways, a few clothes slipping off of his bed wasn’t the worst. Even if they didn’t fall, there was no one there to judge him. Unless Nagisa would somehow end up joining him back to his house afterwards. Karma remembered the existence of Nagisa’s mother and figured that wasn’t very likely. 

Perhaps he just needed to distract himself. That seemed like a pretty decent idea, so he lazily sat up and looked around, wondering where he’d last left his DS. He knew Nagisa had played with it when he’d come over, so it most likely wouldn’t be hidden away or anything. Now totally focused on his side quest of finding his DS, he searched his desk for the device, blatantly ignoring all the schoolwork he knew he had to still clean up. 

After the desk itself wasn’t successful, he moved down, opening a few drawers to look through. When he opened the second drawer, he gave it a confused yet curious look. He reached in his hand only to pick up a small red object, about the size of his hand. At first he’d thought it was some piece of plastic from something, but it felt slightly heavier than that. 

He held up the piece, trying to inspect it closer. As he turned it around in his hand, he noted the typical deep shade of red that didn’t really clarify exactly what it came from. Considering the uneven and sharp sides, it definitely seemed like it was ripped off of something. The question was: from what? 

Karma had no idea what he was holding in his hand. 

\--------------------

Karma slightly regretted getting up early. He’d done so with good intentions, hoping to have enough time to prepare himself for the evening, but he hadn’t really considered that meant he’d be awake for longer. It wasn’t like he was sleepy, just kind of tired and unwilling to do anything. 

At least he’d found his outfit. After what seemed to take ages he’d managed to go with a relatively simple outfit,  _ with jeans _ , and just finishing it with a nice jacket. IT made sure he felt a little more confident about the whole situation. Now all that was left was to actually  _ act _ decent too, at the very least entertain Nagisa well. 

Considering he’d basically been thinking about the ‘perfect evening’ for Nagisa, Karma had come to somewhat of a conclusion. Maybe, just maybe, this dinner was a bit more than a hangout to him. If he’d really wanted to hang out as friends with Nagisa, he was sure it would be slightly different. To not disappoint himself with his own expectations, however, Karma didn’t change the way he referred to the whole ordeal. 

He was about to message Nagisa, asking him if he was still up for that night, somehow a little nervous Nagisa would say no. That was stupid, Karma should know better than think think his friend would just ditch him like that. Still, he felt a certain weight lift off of his shoulders the moment he breathed out as he read Nagisa’s message of confirmation. He was happy. 

That moment was soon interrupted by a loud noise coming from, what Karma recognized to be, the direction of his living room. Unsure what could be in his house at that moment, he grabbed his replica Sonic Ninja sword, which he had for… reasons. Holding it ready, he made his way out of his room and through the hallway. 

He really had no idea what was waiting for him as he walked into the living room. As he looked around, he noticed there was no one around. He leaned forwards a little, trying to see if there was anyone behind any furniture. There wasn’t. 

Slowly, he let down his weapon. He felt a little stupid having acted so paranoid, bringing in actual weapon with him in his own house. However, after the weird out of place thing from only a day before, he really felt like someone could have been in his house. The idea of that was weird, perhaps even a little scary, but it seemed like there was no one in the living room. 

Just as he turned around, his instincts kicked in, causing him to raise up his sword again. He was too slow, however, because whoever his assailants were, they had closed in on him already. There were definitely multiple of them, though Karma barely got the time to count. Before he knew it, he felt a bag go over his head and his vision was obscured. 

It didn’t take long before he was knocked out, too, so he couldn’t even struggle much. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao y'all getting 2 chapters on a day instead of 1 everyday because i'm a budy person with shitty mental health. At least I'm keeping up with this decently enough. I honestly want to get through this part of the fic to get to the fun part but... well... soon!
> 
> This chapter wasn't proofread, once again. Solely cuz I have another one to write and it's not that long so statistic wise... I'm sure there shouldn't be _that_ many mistakes


	14. December 14th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karma got kidnapped. wtf

When Karma had slowly woken up and the weird bag was pulled from his head, he felt the bright light of the room blind him. He considered that to be odd, that whoever had kidnapped him brought him to some bright place. Previous experience in his last year of junior high kinda told him it’d usually be dark and gloomy, or at least not lit like some Christmas decorations display. As things turned out, however, he recognized he  _ was _ surrounded by Christmas decorations. 

“I told you to bring him here,” A familiar deep voice spoke. “Not to  _ kidnap him _ .” 

With that as an announcement, his father appeared in front of him. Karma looked at him, and then around the room, in confusion. He was literally just in Santa’s office. Surrounding him were his father and mother, the head elf, and two other elves. The unknown elves looked a little ashamed, perhaps because Santa Clause had just told them off. 

“Well if he’s really bad-” The first elf started. 

“then we needed to be safe about this!” The second elf finished their defense. 

Santa looked at them with a perturbed look on his face. Trying not to laugh at the situation, Karma pursed his lips and looked away. It was a little funny that these were the people who were judging who was a good kid and who was bad, and yet they decided kidnapping someone was a valid procedure. It was also a little concerning. 

On that note, Karma turned to his father, really wishing to find out why on earth he was there in the first place. The whole set up seemed rather serious, so he figured he was there for a reason. He sure hoped so, because if the elves kidnapped him for fun… No, no they hadn’t. His father had confirmed they needed to bring him over. 

“So… why am I here?” Karma finally decided to ask. 

Everyone in the room suddenly turned to him, and immediately Karma knew his initial intuition about the seriousness of the situation had been right. Really, though, he had no idea what was going on. However, especially the elves were looking at him with a very specific glare, as if he should know already. He almost wished he could punch that look right off of their tiny faces. 

It really was no wonder he was on the naughty list. 

“Well there’s been a- a kind of a discovery,” his father started to explain, seeming a little careful as he spoke. “New evidence, if you will. After some detective research from some of the elves, we managed to, well, find non-elf DNA traces in the factory where things have been… weird, as you may have noticed. It was a lot like my DNA, apparently, so we kinda figured it was me but then… well  _ someone _ , i’m not saying who, suggested we’d test your DNA considering it’s close to mine. 

And it matched which, you know, could be a coincidence. Then we found we were missing parts and files and… well they traced back to our house. I did consider I could’ve brought them along by accident but it just- it didn’t make sense. I mean I don’t want to believe it, but you’re on the naughty list and all so I-” 

Karma raised up his hand to stop him from talking. He gave his father a disgusted, astound look. Perhaps he understood it wrong. No, it didn’t seem like he was. Everything was starting to make sense. Everyone in the room wasn’t just being serious, they were  _ judging _ him. They were accusing him of something, something which he didn’t even do in the first place. 

“You think I’m the one sabotaging Christmas?” Karma asked. 

Initially, no one really answered him. His parents looked at each other, doubtful looks in their eyes. Karma sure hoped that doubt was because they didn’t think it was the truth. There was no way his parents could possibly think he’d want to ruin Christmas for every child in the entire world, or that he was even capable of doing that. Did everyone in the room really think that badly of him? He loved Christmas! He’d literally been trying to save his own Christmas that year. 

When there still hadn’t been an answer from anyone in the room, he let out a small “unbelievable” under his breath. That’s exactly what it was, unbelievable. The fact that everyone had so little trust in him said a lot. but no, he was the bad guy here. 

“We’re not saying that- that we  _ know that _ for a fact,” His mother finally stepped in, her voice a lot softer and calming then his father's. “Sweety, they’re just looking into their options.” 

“Don’t try to exclude yourself from it,” Karma told her. “you’re not exactly defending me, you’re with them.” 

He couldn’t help but sit there with his arms crossed. He was mad, he felt he had the right to be. The people around him didn’t seem to know what to do at first, until finally the head elf spoke up, in a tone that Karma really wasn’t a fan of. 

“If you can debunk any evidence, you should be fine.” He said, his tone very clearly indicating he thought Karma was guilty. 

Evidence. Some evidence that was, it was all vague and a little circumstantial to Karma. Well, technically it wasn’t. That didn’t mean it was enough. He considered if he had anything to rebuke it. Perhaps he could give him all his whereabouts, considering he’d been with people almost constantly the past weeks. Not the entire time, but school was a thing for most of his days. Surely the moments he’d been home by himself weren’t long enough to properly spend time ruining Christmas. 

A thought came to his mind. There was a certain occasion the past few weeks that was...peculiar. He hadn’t been able to explain it, but he couldn’t explain this Christmas complication either. If the two situations were related, perhaps it could prove Karma’s innocence. 

He turned to his father. “The break-in I told you about, what if it was related to this?” 

His father looked at him questioningly. He didn’t say anything, which Karma took as a sign to continue. 

“You said stuff traced back to the house,” Karma continued. “What if it’s related to the person who broke into the house? What if this was someone who went to our house to find out more about you.” 

For a moment, Karma thought he’d won the argument. His father seemed to genuinely consider his words, his usual deep thoughts look on his face. Of course, his mother just looked confused. Someone breaking in wasn’t really a good thing, after all. The head elf, however, wasn’t convinced. 

“Santa, I do believe you said there was no evidence of a break in,” His annoying voice started. “Nothing was missing or  _ really  _ off, so how do we know this so-called ‘break-in’ even really happened. He could have staged it himself.” 

“I didn’t stage shit,” Karma raised his voice, the elf really getting on his nerves. “And I have proof.” 

He put his hand into his pocket and fished out the red piece he’d found earlier that day. When he held it up to the rest of the room, he held a small smirk on his face, knowing he was in the right there. He looked his father straight in the eye as he spoke up again, to explain his logic. 

“I found this in my room, and i have  _ never _ seen it before,” Karma explained. “Obviously, someone else left it there, someone who broke into the house. Why would I even have something like this lying around, it’s literal garbage, someone dropped it.” 

The reasoning was weak, the overall argument being a little shaky and easy to rebuke. However, Karma knew it was real, so he could bring it with full passion. Surely his father, Santa Claus, could recognize if his own son was lying. Besides, it was really the only argument he had. 

While everyone was looking at it, the head elf snatched it from Karma’s hand, inspecting the piece closer. His eyes scanned over the object intently, and the people in the room were looking at him sceptically, as if they were unsure what exactly he was looking for. Whatever it was, he seemed to have found it, because he looked up again with a shocked look on his face. 

“This is a piece of Santa’s sleigh!” He raised his voice and pointed at Karma. “Did you steal this?” 

“What? no!” Karma was confused, “Why would I- What use would I have with that?” 

How had this somehow turned out even worse? If he’d known the piece was from Santa’s sleigh, he probably wouldn’t have shown it. To be associated with taking something from Santa, that really wasn’t good for his case. Everything was really starting to make him look extremely guilty. He started to question how he could turn this around. 

“Charles, that’s ridiculous,” His father took the piece from the head elf, whose name was apparently Charles. “He’d have no use in that, I mean the sleigh still works without this piece so-” 

“This piece has the magic, though,” Charles interrupted Santa. “He could probably use this one piece’s magic to somehow make another vehicle capable of reaching the North Pole fast and-” 

“He’s not Santa, he can’t do that” His mother intervened. “He can’t use Santa’s magic.” 

The room remained silent, which in itself wasn’t a good sign, but Karma knew there was something else at play. He hoped his father wouldn’t mention the detail he himself was thinking about. Surely that hadn’t been a sign he could tap into Santa Claus’s magic. Why would he even be able to do that. Well, of course he-

“He’s Santa’s son,” one of the elves finally spoke up. “Is it possible he had the magic, too?” 

Karma’s eyes locked in with his dad’s, and Karma knew exactly that he was thinking about the same thing. Really not wanting his father to speak up, he gave him a pleading look. As his mother explained that it would be simply impossible, his father raised his hands to stop her talking, though. 

“Yui, he may have experienced the Santa sense.” His father said. 

More discussions erupted in the room, but Karma knew he was screwed. Even if they weren’t  _ really  _ sure it was him, he was probably the only lead they had and there was no way they’d let that go. The question, then, was what they were going to do next. Lucky for him, his father answered that question pretty quickly. 

“I’m not entirely convinced, or, well, I hope this isn’t really what’s the case,” His father silenced the room with his words, showing very clearly who was the boss. “But I think it’s wisest that Karma stays here, at the North Pole, until we know what’s up. That way we can keep an eye on him and- well that’s kind of it.” 

Karma didn’t agree with it, really wanted to protest, but he didn’t have the energy. Besides, it was probably useless. His parents didn’t even really listen to him on a normal day, let alone on one where he’s being accused of some kind of crime against Christmas. It sucked, knowing his parents thought of him like that. That was what hurt more than the actual situation. 

His father was telling the elves what to do, apparently needing some things done for Karma to stay. He somewhat registered them talking about the room he’d be staying in, and how it had to be somewhere where they could keep an eye on him. Karma had never thought the North Pole, Santa Claus’s literal HQ, could feel like such a prison. Yet there he was, imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. 

In his mind, he tried to go over anything he could do to entertain himself. He was sure his father wouldn’t let him sit bored, especially when there were probably enough gaming devices around in Santa’s factory. Still, Karma figured that would get a little boring. He’d really gotten used to actually playing together with people and being more social. There was no way he could call over Nagisa now. 

“wait- Shit. Shit SHIT!” Karma suddenly had a realization about someone who was wainting for him back in Japan. “I have to go back really quickly,  _ now _ ” 

His father looked at him, slightly concerned. “I just said you couldn’t lea-” 

“No no no, you don’t understand,” Karma interrupted him in desperacy. “I have a date.”

“Date?”

“Wait, no- not a date I-” Karma stuttered. 

He wasn’t sure how to explain it, especially considering he’d been doubting the label of his and Nagisa’s hang out ever since it had been planned. One look at his watch confirmed it was hours past his and Nagisa’s meet up time, meaning Nagisa had probably been waiting for him at the restaurant for ages now. Guilt took him over as he begged his father to let him go. 

“Karma, going out with a friend is not an emergency reason for you to get out,” His father said strictly. “It simply is not an excuse.” 

“Look, he’s been waiting for me for hours now he-” Karma tried to find the right words to say. “I made a promise to him and I just didn’t show up now and he’s probably worried I- You always tell me I can’t break a promise, right? so I should at least go there and apoligize and ensure he’s right!” 

The look on his father’s face was unsure. He seemed really dubious on what to do. Karma let out a last soft “please”. Finally, his father let out a sigh of surrender, saying he’d bring him back for a bit,  _ just for that _ . 

Karma just hoped Nagisa wasn’t too angry and would still talk to him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long chapter (technically like half an hour too alte for my timezone, but it's the 14th somewhere) and it's very plot heavy, oops. But hey now we've come to the part of the fic that's plot and funy Christmas times to write. wel... "fun"


	15. December 15th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa has been waiting

Nagisa checked the time on his phone again, letting out an agitated sigh as he did. It was over two hours since his and Karma’s planned meeting time, and there still was no sign of his friend, nor did he answer his phone. He’d called him over a hundred times, sent a million texts, and even DM’d him on his social media just in case. There had been absolutely no response. 

He felt his hand cramp up because of the winter weather, not even his gloves enough after standing in the cold for so long. Hoping for some more comfort, he rubbed his hands together, wishing the friction would warm up his hands just enough. It definitely hadn’t been wise to wait outside for as long as he had, but if he waited inside somewhere there was a chance he might have missed Karma somehow. 

However, it didn’t seem like he was going to show up anyways. 

A feeling of regret filled him. Perhaps he’d been too awfully hopeful about the night and it didn’t mean as much to Karma as he thought it may have. He could have sworn from the tone of Karma’s voice over the phone that Karma had seemed so enthusiastic about the whole ordeal. Yet there Nagisa was, without Karma. 

After contemplating his decision for way too long, he decided to just leave. If he left then he’d at least get to walk home through the brightly lit streets and enjoy the view of the fairy lights. He figured he could just ignore the actual Christmas themed decorations he would encounter. After all, he didn’t need anything else to upset him now. However, as he walked away, he couldn’t exactly block out all the negative thoughts. 

He ignored the voices of the people he walked past, feeling the blurred sound alone close in on him enough as it were. Besides, their actual conversations were probably nonsensical and unimportant, whereas Nagisa felt like his night was a lot. It felt like too much, even. The noise of some girl giggling past his ear bothered him, so he fastened his pace. He wanted to leave faster. 

Of course he was thinking about Karma. There was no way he could let his mind drift away from the exact person who had stood him up that night. He even tried to imagine why he’d done so, why he would suddenly not show up, and most of the conclusions he made in his head were too depressing to deal with. After everything that had happened that year alone, he didn’t want what his train of thought had brought him to be right. He supposed you just never knew when it came to Karma. 

“Nagisa!” An all too well known voice called his name. “Wait-” 

Nagisa looked back over his shoulder and stopped walking in surprise of the sudden noise. As he looked behind him, he couldn’t help but consider if, perhaps, he had imagined the voice. However, his suspicions were confirmed when the familiar head of red hair forced itself through the mass of people on the streets. 

A wave of shock overcame Nagisa as he watched Karma approach, running towards him. He appeared to be out of breath, presumably because he’d been running after Nagisa. The look in his eyes was desperate, yet somehow focused, as if he did have a goal but it was getting a little hard to achieve. Nagisa just stood there as he came closer, the same perplexed look on his face. He wasn’t sure how to respond yet. 

“K-Karma?” He managed to let out the other boy’s name. 

Karma stopped in front of him, taking a moment to breath before speaking up. “I-I’m so- I’m so sorry I… can explain.” 

Both of them remained silent for a second, the only noise between them being Karma’s heavy breathing. They looked at each other, both waiting for the other to say something. Nagisa even found himself scanning Karma. With that he hoped to figure out something more, something that was the truth, because he had a feeling Karma wouldn’t give that to him. 

“You can explain?” Nagisa finally found back his voice entirely. “You can explain how you’re two hours too late and left me standing in the cold… w-without knowing what’s going on?!” 

He was mad, and he felt he had the right to be. Of course he had the right to be. He’d been ditched, abandoned, left on his own in the cold quite far from his house. On top of that, Karma seemed to want to justify it, as if it was okay to just leave Nagisa behind somewhere. Well, it wasn’t, and unless he somehow brought forth some good life or death reason, he didn’t think he’d stop being mad about this anytime soon. 

The fact that he needed so long to think about his explanation was just bad. Not that he could be sure, but Nagisa kind of took that as him trying to come up with an excuse. That thought was supported by Karma’s stance and expression as he talked. Nagisa recognized a liar when he saw one. 

“There was this uh- problem with my parents?” Karma tried to explain, not even sounding sure about his own words. “He just… held me and- and well, look I didn’t mean to be this late-” 

“You didn’t mean to be…” Nagisa looked at his phone screen to verify, “two hours and 13 minutes too late?” 

Judging by the look on Karma’s face, he realized how much he’d fucked up. Karma looked around, showing clear nervous tics as he thought well about his next words. For a moment he looked like he just wanted to leave, which Nagisa figured was in character for him. 

“Just- Just tell me if you really wanted to be here with me,” Nagisa pleaded, hoping for a certain answer desperately. 

“I did!” Karma raised his voice. “I-I  _ do _ . Shit, Nagisa, I want to make this right I just- I can’t even stay here long I don’t know how to shortly explain-” 

“You need to  _ leave _ again?” 

Nagisa couldn’t even hold an angry look on his face now. He was appalled, most definitely, but he was mostly just shocked. First Karma comes over two hours too late, and then he wouldn’t even stay afterwards to make it right. That didn’t feel like he wanted to make it right. That sounded like he wanted to get out of the whole situation. Even though  _ he _ had asked Nagisa to come, he seemed to not be able to be there at all, perhaps because he just didn’t want to. 

“Like I said, my dad-” Karma started, but started a new sentence midway through. “Just trust me that I wanted to be here, please. There’s nothing I’d rather have done today then go out for dinner with you, Nagisa.” 

As Karma spoke, Nagisa looked deep into his eyes. He wanted to give him a disappointed look. Whatever was going on, Nagisa had yet to understand it. He wanted Karma to make it right. He wanted for Karma to have a valid reason and for everything to be right again eventually. Mostly, he just needed a reason to forgive him. 

“Then why weren’t you here?” 

Karma looked away, avoiding looking Nagisa in the eye. Hoping to really pull the truth out of him, Nagisa moved along with his eyes. Perhaps if Karma felt the desperate look on Nagisa’s face hit him, he’d have enough compassion to just explain everything. After all, that’s all Nagisa wanted. 

After a moment, it seemed his strategy had somehow worked. Karma had a guilty look on his face and, though he appeared very hesitant about it, he opened his mouth to speak. Nagisa listened intently. 

“You’re- You’re going to think I’m crazy,” Karma started hesitantly, but continued after he saw the encouraging look Nagisa was giving him. “Well… I was going to be on time but then… some people who worked for my dad came over because uh- there- well, there were some major problems in his factory they thought I was involved in because, you know, I’m suspicious at all times, or whatever.” 

It didn’t take a genius to recognize Karma was being careful about telling the story. Nagisa, however, didn’t think it was enough, and nudged him to continue. Still insecure about it, Karma did, bringing forth what may very well have been the weirdest, yet also most important, part of the truth. 

“Because someone is… trying to sabotage Christmas. As in, someone is ruining everyone’s, uh- gifts and… I mean the toys. And all the organizing and other work that comes with it, so there would be no way of telling who had been good and who had been bad.” 

Now Nagisa was giving him a confused look. It wasn’t plain confusion, it was a combination of that with shock, with some concern mixed in too. All in all, Nagisa didn’t really understand what was happening, nor did he believe what was being told to him. He wasn’t sure where the story was going entirely. Luckily, Karma was about to clarify for him. 

“Well, you see, my dad’s workers are elves and… his factory is- is on the North Pole. Because- Because my...my dad...is… Santa Claus.” 

Karma stopped talking, and Nagisa was not immediately ready to respond. The words Karma had spoken were still echoing through his mind, needing more analysis before they could be decoded properly. Then again, there wasn’t much to decode. Nagisa just tried to find a way for his friend to not be crazy even if he’d just told him something that absolutely was. 

The best solution he could think of was that he may have heard it wrong. He’d probably just misheard whatever he just said his father was. Yes, that made the most sense. However, he then should’ve misheard almost the entirety of Karma’s speech, because everything he’d said really seemed to point to the fact that Karma had just told him his father was Santa Claus. That didn’t seem right, meaning there was only one other option. 

“Now you’re lying to me?” Nagisa couldn’t help but show the hurt on his face. “Shit, Karma, just tell me you don’t want to be around me anymore, m-made up your mind, or whatever.” 

Karma’s eyes grew wide in response. “Wait, no- Nagisa that’s no-” 

“ _ Santa Clause? _ Karma I’m not stupid!” He didn’t want to yell, but he couldn’t stop himself. “This isn’t even remotely funny and- and you- D-do you really think I’m that stupid that I’d fall for such a…  _ Really? _ ” 

Karma’s panicked eyes looked around, obviously eyeing the people around them that may have just overheard their conversation. Not that Nagisa cared, seeing as he wasn’t the one that looked stupid. He wasn’t the asshole in this conversation. Specifically, he wasn’t giving his best friend some idiotic lie that was so bad it felt like he was insulting Nagisa for thinking he’d fall for it. 

“I-I’m going home,” Nagisa said, softer thing time. “It’s okay, you don’t have to call me. I know you enjoy leaving me behind anyways.” 

“Nagisa, I’m serious,” Karma tried to follow his friend as he stepped away. “I  _ know _ it sounds unbelievable, which is why I didn’t say anything before and- well, it’s also supposed to be a secret I-” 

Only holding up a single hand, Nagisa managed to get him to stop talking. Karma looked at the hand, and then at Nagisa’s eyes again, a pleading look in his eyes. It didn’t feel great to Nagisa for him and Karma to be like that. However, the whole situation was really too much for him. 

Once more, he stepped backwards. He felt himself look at the snowy ground for a moment, the path below him appearing trampled by the mass of people that had been at that place, many of whom were still around them. Yet, somehow, Nagisa felt extremely alone and like he was the only person to have really been where he was. Then, he looked back up, crossing eyes with Karma once more. 

“Merry Christmas, Karma” 

The emotionless words escaped him and he turned around, walking away from the situation and leaving it behind. He left Karma behind there, too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've missed Nagisa's perspective :D but here we are. Honestly I remember deciding i'd mix in this perspective when I started this and here we are, actually sticking to some plans :)
> 
> Thank you for all the kudos and comments! I know I say this a lot but both mean a lot to me. I read all my comments but as per usual, don't know how to respond because once the chapter is done, I have used all my good words of the day.


	16. December 16th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karma now has to spend his time at the North Pole, but he's very set on using that time to find out the truth.

The brightness of his phone screen had started to bother Karma. He’d turned it down quite a lot already, but considering he’d been looking at the screen for such a long time with an intensely focused look in his eyes, even the medium setting was annoying. It was just that he didn’t know what to do, what to say or type or whatever. Mostly, he knew he shouldn’t do  _ nothing _ . 

Of course Nagisa hadn’t believed him, in hindsight admitting his dad was Santa Claus had been a rather stupid move that was really hard to turn back from. Of all people, Karma should have realized it wouldn’t work on Nagisa. Well, it wouldn’t work on most people. It was just a really ridiculous and unbelievable fact, though also a very real one to Karma. 

He looked around what was his room for that moment. It was a little too bright for his doing, even Santa’s guest room being overly decorated and colourful. Personally, Karma prefered a more calm environment with white walls and actual feature items to call one’s attention. He also wasn’t much of a logwood person but hey, that really was the vibe the people on the North Pole wanted to go for with their furniture. 

Finally, he put his phone away. Really, the only thing he could do was apologize, and he’d done enough of that by now. The word “sorry” really started to not feel like a word to him anymore. Perhaps Nagisa really needed a moment of rest before he texted him. It wouldn’t be so bad for him to calm down before they talked again, right? That was a normal thing to expect of your friend. 

He got up from his temporary bed, now done with lying around and waiting for things to happen. In fact, he’d given himself a mission. Sure, everyone on the North Pole, and maybe even some beyond, believed he’d been trying to ruin Christmas and wreak havoc in Santa’s factory, but he knew he was innocent. All he had to do was prove it, and what better way to do that than find out who the actual culprit was? 

So, he wasn’t really supposed to leave his room too much. His father had very clearly specified that matter. For some reason, only mildly understandable, he didn’t want Karma to wander through the workplace. Presumably, he thought Karma would try to do more damage. Not that he was doing so in the first place, but he’d definitely not do something so obvious after being caught if it were really him. 

The elves, however, really seemed to think that badly of him. Perhaps it was just the whole naughty list thing, but they really were convinced he was guilty and an overall bad guy. Karma wouldn’t call himself the best behaved person ever, but he didn’t consider himself the supervillain either. The way Santa’s workers looked at him the moment he walked into a room wasn’t exactly encouraging for good behaviour. 

Lucky for him, there wasn’t anyone in the hallway outside of his room. He looked around, just to be sure, and when he was absolutely certain the coast was free, and he wouldn’t be judged, he made his way out. Sure, he’d only been at the North Pole for less than a day, but the combination of previous experience and the rather simple floor plan ensured he knew his way around pretty decently. 

It was a little risky for him to try and sneak into Santa’s factory, but considering that that’s where his DNA had been found and a lot of damage had been done, it was the biggest lead he had to the truth. Then again, it was the most vulnerable and yet important part of the North Pole and Christmas organisation, so it was now very well guarded. Most like, they were guarding it from him, too. 

Karma, however, had had enough stealth training to outsmart some elves. 

Leaving a simple distraction in the hallway closest to the least guarded door was no issue to him at all. Oddly enough, Santa owned enough smoke bombs. Who knew that was something kids asked for Christmas so much these days. Karma could relate to that, to be fair. And now, it was particularly useful to him, because the guards were distracted and he only needed to sneak around one hallway and silently go through the door before he was finally in. 

He was almost surprised about how easy it had been. A little full of himself, perhaps, he mentally patted himself on the shoulder. Not that he was done just yet, he still couldn’t get caught just yet. He needed to find this place where the so-called evidence had been found, and possibly inspect it for more. Of course, no one had really specified to him where they’d found traces of his DNA, and the factory was  _ huge _ . 

The best he could think of was to check the actual machinery. After all, when he’d been here not too long ago to get lectured by his dad, there seemed to be a lot wrong with the devices in the room, presenting absolutely failure of toys to the workers. That was probably an easy way to ruin Santa Claus’s job, by ensuring he had no proper toys to give to the children. 

When Karma inspected the machine he’d seen produce horror Barbie’s, he had to admit he wasn’t exactly a mechanic of any kind. What he did recognize was the crime scene tape surrounding the back of the machine. Oddly enough, it was the tape Karma knew to be from children’s police playsets. It could be considered a little comedic if he wasn’t trying to do a serious job there. 

Surely enough, on the ground were marked places and the metal plate closing the back of some engine was all dented. Even Karma some dented metal wouldn’t break a machine. He noted the screws holding the plate up and how loose they were, meaning someone had undone it. Whoever the culprit was, they knew enough about machinery to know how to ruin it from the inside out. 

The only fingerprints that had been dusted on the back of it were still there. Karma held up his hand, turning it to look at his finger and then compare it to the prints on the metal. It definitely matched his, however, he knew he wasn’t the one who had put them there. Perhaps the most peculiar thing about the prints was that the area around them felt a little bit sticky. It wasn’t a lot, but Karma noted there was some old glue residue there, or something like that. 

He directed his attention back to the floor. Whatever evidence had been found there was gone, but the chalk prints of where it had been found. Maybe Karma had seen too many crime shows, but he was pretty sure chalk outlines were for dead bodies, and not for literal miniscule evidence. Still, he knelt down to inspect it closer. 

The only thing he found was some hairs. Those weren’t that weird to find in a place where humans worked, but he supposed it was weird for it to be behind some big object where not many people came. Some of them were red and most likely his, he could admit that much. Strangely enough, he also found a black hair, and then another one. He couldn’t exactly rule out them having flown there with the wind and belonging to one of Santa’s elves, but he noted the matter anyways. 

Suddenly, he heard a loud bell sounding through the hall. Now, Karma wasn’t too familiar with the inner workings of Santa’s workplace, but he was pretty sure that was some kind of sign for him to leave there. He was not ready to be found out just yet. If anything, if one of the elves found him in that position, the blame would be put on him even more. So, he snuck out, the same way he’d gotten in. 

The hallways weren’t as quiet as they’d been before. Many elves were walking around, and Karma could hear them talking about it being the end of their shift. It was probably around dinner time, anyways. He found his way back to his room, standing in front of his door and ready to open it, when the booming sound of a certain voice made him jump. 

“What are you up to?” 

Karma turned around to see his father standing a few metres away from him, hand in his sides as he glared at Karma suspiciously. For some reason, he was wearing the entire Santa get up, red coat and everything. Somehow, that alarmed Karma a little, as if something serious was about to happen. He wasn’t sure why, but the full Santa outfit really made his father feel like the real deal, even though Karma was always very aware of his father’s legitimate status as father Christmas. 

“Oh I just-” He hesitated. “Bathroom. You know I can’t exactly sit in my room all day and not-”

“O-oh, well, nevermind that,” His father interrupted him, apparently not interested in Karma’s need for the bathroom. “It’s dinner time.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know how good I feel anytime I see comments when I open ao3? I love it. Thank you so much!


	17. December 17th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner with the Akabanes

The dinner table Karma was sitting at was over the top to say the least. Sure, he liked Christmas decorations, he enjoyed the general vibe of the holidays, and especially around the time of the year he loved the idea of a nicely set up Christmas dinner. However, even  _ he _ considered a fully Christmas themed decked dinner table to way too much for a non-Christmas day. 

He supposed it was the North Pole spirit. The whole place had Christmas decorations 24/7, and throughout the entirety of December it was just  _ worse _ somehow. Considering his father’s best plates were all finely decorated with Christmas scenery around the borders to match the cutlery, it was no surprise that everything else in his belongings matched that particular description too. Karma raised the fork in his hand to study the small gingerbread men etched into the metal and noted how that was so not his taste. 

For a moment it made him think of Nagisa. He wasn’t sure what exactly it was, but he’d been so set on Nagisa’s ruined Christmas spirit, that he felt bad enjoying anything Christmas themed when Nagisa would hate it so much. Even if he thought his father’s decor was mostly ugly. Of course he tried to shove those thoughts aside, but whenever he looked up there was just something way worse to confront. 

His parents sat on the other end of the table of him, sitting so closely together they might as well have been sharing a chair. They were being absolutely gross. His father was constantly all over his mother, acting like a teenager in love. Worst of all, his mother was acting in on it and giggling along. Apparently, she was rather enjoying it. 

Karma, on the other hand, was disgusted to have to see that. He didn’t need to see his parents like that. If they wanted to act like that, they could at least try and do it in private. The disgust must have been showing on his face, yet neither of his parents seemed to show they realized he was in the room. He felt like that was a good time to speak up. 

“Can you two just… not?” Karma asked them. “Like, not be all… like this, in front of me,  _ please _ ?” 

“You know, not every kid really gets to see his mommy kissing Santa Claus,” His father answered with a jolly laugh before kissing his mother. 

Karma absolutely hated it. 

Once again, he tried to just focus on his food. Sure, he’d been wishing to have a proper family dinner for years now, ever since his father had become Santa. He wanted to do that kind of normal family stuff again, but it wasn’t exactly the same anymore by this point. Especially different now, was the fact that Karma didn’t exactly want to be there at that moment. 

His parents didn’t seem particularly content with the silence. Unlike Karma, they weren’t used to eating dinner in silence, let alone an awkward one. So, as anyone would, they decided to change the topic. His mother was the first one to speak up, and of course she knew exactly what she wanted to talk to Karma about. 

“So who's this Nagisa kid I heard about?” His mother asked with the enthusiasm of any mother finding out about her son’s love life. “I heard you talking about your supposed date, and all.” 

Karma’s eyes grew wide. He looked away, attempting to hide the redness that had risen to his face. Internally, he considered ways to cool his face down, but all of them would have just made it too obvious. Instead he settled for silence, not really sure how to answer his mother’s inquiry. 

“I’d like to know some more, too.” His father added to the mix. 

Now, Karma couldn’t avoid looking up at them. Both of them were looking at him expectantly. He was sure they were interested, really wishing to know more. In response, Karma just let out an annoyed grunt, which he released like a sigh. He also slumped in his chair a little, solely out of instinct. 

“You have your list and files,” Karma noted, audibly not interested in having the conversation. “I’m sure you know everything there is to know about him.” 

“I know about his actions,” His father answered. “You can’t  _ know _ a person from a piece of paper, not truly. The only reason I can judge whether someone is naughty or nice is because of the magic and general morality, not someone’s personality. Spending time with someone reveals a lot about them.” 

Karma rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, you held me from spending time with him.” 

An awkward tension fell over the table, one that was emphasized by the moment of silence that lasted just a little too long. Santa had an uncomfortable look on his face, one that also showed a little surprise mixed in, too. Perhaps he hadn’t realized Karma was still angry about that incident, or he could have forgotten it, but he definitely regretted bringing it up a little at that moment. So, he tried to direct the conversation somewhere better. 

“W-well, he’s on the nice list, so…” Santa managed to say. “That’s something! Even with… with the… attempted murder thing…” 

He may have been trying to solve the uncomfortableness in the room, but really, he made it a little worse. Karma, himself, wasn’t exactly sure what to say to that fact. He didn’t feel like he had to defend Nagisa to his parents, and he honestly didn’t want to encourage them to keep talking about him at all. One look at his mother confirmed she hadn’t known about this fact and was a little surprised, to say the least. 

If Karma had known all those years that the return of their family dinners would be that bad, he definitely wouldn’t have wished for it so much. Really, he craved for the comfortableness of sitting on his own, enjoying some time for himself. Even as he sat there with his parents, he was really just thinking about going back to his temporary room later and getting some rest. Anything seemed better than the awkwardness that overcame him as he sat there under the gaze of his own parents. 

His father let out a cough. “I was trying to say he was a good kid…” 

That caught Karma’s attention. Perhaps his father’s earlier statement should have done the same, but he hadn’t been thinking about the whole situation that well then, way too focused on the awkwardness of the actual moment. The fact was that his father had just confirmed Nagisa being a good kid, even with some bad stuff on his file, he was nice. 

“Then why does Nagisa never get gifts,” He asked his father with a serious tone, “even though he is on the nice list?” 

His father seemed surprised about that comment, or maybe just about the fact that Karma was still talking to him. He took a deep breath, looked at his wife who was giving him an encouraging look, and then returned to his son as he spoke up. As he spoke, he seemed very matter-of-fact, not once portraying the usual jolly Santa smile. 

“Well, you see, it’s about believing and the parents, too,” His father started to explain. “Because if no one in a house would be willing to give gifts for the kids at Christmas, there’s just no way for Santa’s magic to work. Not only is the magic based on people believing in Santa it’s also the fact that...well, people need to be good and think that there is an actual possibility of there being presents under the tree that they may not have bought. Honestly, if they don’t expect presents, they’d probably just think there was a break in. 

In a way, it made sense. Karma supposed it must be weird if even parents, who no longer believe in Santa Claus, admit they didn’t buy the presents. However, it was a little odd how complicated Santa’s magic was. How did the magic just know where to go and where not to. Especially with his father’s explanation in mind, Karma could understand magic was supposed to be wondrous and above natural capabilities, but it was still very complicated. Honestly, he was just more confused about Santa’s magic now. 

“Well, he still deserves the presents.” Karma said, ending that conversation. 

Once dinner was over, Karma made his way back over to his room. He was very well aware of the people keeping an eye on him as he did, but he didn’t care about them too much. Ignoring their gaze, he took out his phone and stared at his screen again all the way to his room. He was heavily contemplating something. 

He closed the room door behind him and stood with his back to it when he finally made a decision. Still unsure if he was doing everything right, he started typing away, deleting the words and rewriting it constantly. It took a while before he’d found a collection of words that were good enough for him. They were in no way perfect, mostly because there weren’t many words, but Karma wasn’t sure the perfect words for his situation existed. There really was only one thing he had to say, and that thing didn’t take many words if he was direct about it. So, he pressed send. 

**Karma:** I really am sorry. I never want to leave you behind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My break is only one day away, then I can stop mixing this with my uni work, finally. I planned this entire chapter out and it still took me way longer than I wanted to write it. It's one again technically late for my timezone, but we do not care!
> 
> I am not sure if I emphasized I kinda changed some things about the universe like.. Karma's dad is not form Japan. He's European (implied Dutch, oops) with Japanese heritage because I wnated to avoid Asian Santa for reasons. Also like, how Japan celebrates Christmas... cuz I needed a certain vibe for this to really work.


	18. December 18th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Karma gets to spend time with his mother

Karma wasn’t sure how he’d ended up spending time with his mother, but he supposed it wasn’t the worst way to spend his time. After all, he’d missed her as much as he’d missed his father, even if she had come around for him a little more often because she didn’t really have as much of a job at the North Poly as his father did. Still he kept checking his phone the entire time he walked with her. He still hadn’t heard back from Nagisa. 

“-and then he started throwing snowballs at your father! It was hilarious,” His mother finished the story which Karma may or may not have only half been listening to. “Reminds me of when you were younger, you know? Whenever there was snow you’d always wait for your father to come back from work and fire as many snowballs at him as your tiny hands could manage.” 

His mother let out a laugh, obviously still finding joy in that memory. Karma, on the other hand, wasn’t even sure he’d remembered that particular fact until she’d recalled it. Sure, it seemed in character, sort of, but it was also a little embarrassing. On top of that, times had really changed since then. 

He looked away as he put his hands in his pockets “Well, I’m not six anymore, you know?” 

For a moment they kept walking in silence, the only sound coming from them from the North Pole snow crunching under their feet. OF course there was enough noise around them. The Christmas frenzy had really started and, as his father had described it, everyone needed to work twice as hard. They needed to make up for all the time and presents that got lost by basically just making a shitton of overhours now. 

Not that Karma could compare it to anything from other years, considering he hadn’t really been there around Christmas a lot, but he was glad he didn’t have to work like that. It looked way too bothersome to him. All the craze did actually set him wondering how on earth his mother had found some time to spend just walking with him. He was sure everyone could use every bit of help they could get. 

“You know,” His mother suddenly broke their silence. “I don’t think you actually did it.”

Karma looked at her in surprise. For a moment he considered he’d heard her wrong, if maybe she’d said she did think he’d do it. After all, everyone seemed to believe that. The soft look in his mother’s eyes told him something entirely different, however. She actually seemed to believe him. 

It did make Karma feel a little better, knowing someone was on his side. He supposed it was also great that it was his mother, because it did give him a little more trust in at least one of his own parents. Still, one person wasn’t enough. There were still plenty of people around him at that moment who thought he was some Christmas hating criminal. One of whom was his own father. 

“I think you’re the only one,” Karma let out with a sigh. 

“I’m sure your father doesn’t actually believe you did it,” His mother reassured him, “He’s just handling things to the best that he can and ease everyone’s nerves, I’m sure of it.” 

“Well, he’s not doing a very good job of easing mine,” Karma said. “Which is funny considering you’d think he’d want to do that for his own son.” 

His mother didn’t immediately find a reply to that. Karma was sure she wanted to defend his father. The two of them were married in way too in love, of course she wanted to pick his side. Then again, she was also talking to her own son, the child she produced herself. Her bias must be all over the place. 

“I’m assuming you’re trying to find out who it is?” His mother asked. 

“Wait, h-how did you-” Karma was surprised. 

“I’m your mother,” She showed a particular smirk Karma thought he could see himself in too, “You don’t think I know exactly what my own son would do? I know you’re going all detective on this case.” 

Karma couldn’t help but let out a little laugh, knowing he got caught like that by his own mother. In response to her, he nodded, and she just had a content look on her face. She was in no way surprised about this development. It reassured Karma a little, somehow. He wasn’t sure what it was, but this particular talk with his mother really did help him feel better. He suspected that was her plan the entire time. A small curse, and a praise, went through his head for his mother knowing him so well. 

“There are some suspicious things I found,” He admitted to her, “I’m not sure what they lead to yet, though.” 

A thoughtful look crossed his mother’s face, but before she could come to any revelations, a loud bell rang through the air. Karma looked around to find the source, only to see it, not very surprisingly, to come directly from Santa’s workshop. He really should have recognized it, considering it was the bell that indicated breaktime and when shifts were over. 

His mother let out a sigh and turned to her son. Immediately Karma knew what she meant by that. The sound of the bell probably meant that whatever free time she’d made for him was now over. From what Karma gathered, she did have many meetings and planning sessions to attend with his father. He supposed he could use all the help he could get to, specifically from his wife. Even if she was just there for mental support, she always did do a lot for the people in the room. 

“That’s my signal to go, I’m afraid,” She told him. “If you wish to investigate some more, can I recommend your Father’s office? It’ll be empty from three to four.” 

Karma nodded, finding that to be very useful information. “I might just do that.” 

Before she walked away she sent him a smile and gave him a small kiss on the cheek, one which Karma wiped off almost immediately after. She let out a giggle to that reaction but then did walk off. Just as Karma was about to walk away too, she turned around to tell him on last thing. 

“If you think this Nagisa deserves a present,” His mother said. “You might want to consider getting something for him yourself.” 

And with that she was off. Karma stood alone in the snow, processing what his mother had just said. He supposed it wasn’t the worst idea, to get something for Nagisa. It was also a kind of embarrassing idea, however. The thought of him appearing on Nagisa’s doorstep on Christmas with a gift in his hand made the heat rise to his cheeks. 

He wouldn’t even know what to get him. What if he got him something and Nagisa absolutely hated it? If anything, that would just make everything worse. Nagisa was mad at him already he didn’t need to ruin it by giving him something terrible. On top of that, what if it just made Nagisa fall back into his negative feelings towards Christmas? Karma didn’t want to be the cause of that. 

Then again, the idea of Nagisa’s surprised face as he gets a gift handed to him felt exceptional to Karma. Nagisa’s smile was borderline angelic and if he could be the cause of it, he’d be nothing short of honoured. And it was true, Nagisa did deserve to get presents. He deserved to get the best Christmas. 

Karma just wasn’t sure if he could really be the one to do that for him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> of course it's too late again. Sorry boys I had a secret santa gift to work on asdfghj
> 
> as per usual when the chapter is late, I did not take the time to reread it :)


	19. December 19th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karma's final part of the investigation

His father’s office was more chaotic than it had been last time. Perhaps it was the rushing of all the sudden last minute work that Santa had to do, but it made it ten times harder for Karma to properly investigate the place, so he wasn’t a fan. He couldn’t make a distinction between damage possibly done by the culprit he was looking for, and whatever mess his father had somehow ended up making. 

He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, he never really did in this investigation, apparently. However, something told him that he’d know it the moment he saw it. So far, the drawers of his father’s desk hadn’t been much of a lead, and neither had most of the shelves he’d looked at so far. Nothing really seemed that out of place for Santa. 

For a moment, his eyes drifted towards the cabinet at the other end of the room. He was sure there was nothing in there that he needed for his investigation. Which kid was naughty or nice didn’t seem to be really relevant to him at that particular moment. Whatever was happening at the North Pole didn’t seem to have been orchestrated by a child. No child could successfully frame Karma, he was pretty confident about that fact. 

Still, he couldn’t stop the weird feeling that came from his stomach. He wanted to dismiss it, think of it as just some weird association with that cabinet because of a previous conversation he’d had with his father, but something was really off. So, he approached it, opening the first drawer that caught his eye. 

The drawer seemed to be never ending. Karma wasn’t sure how far he could pull the drawer out, but he told himself he didn’t really have the time to try it out because he was on a mission. He was sure there were way too many files for him to ever look at, considering every child in the world was documented on there. It was a wonder Santa managed to keep up with all these childrens’ wishes.

For a moment Karma thought back to the moment he’d seen his father read Nagisa’s file. Whatever had been written on there, it must have been predominantly good stuff, because his father really had seemed a little impressed when reading it. Karma could imagine that, Nagisa was an impressive person. 

He had a small thought come to his mind. His mother had told him he should try to get Nagisa something for Christmas, and he kind of agreed with that. The main problem was that he had no idea what to give Nagisa  _ at all _ , even if he somehow gathered the courage to approach him again. One look at his file and Karma could find out  _ everything _ about Nagisa, every single wish he’d ever had from his childhood to the present day. He could get him the perfect gift. 

He shook his head. Even though he’d love to give Nagisa the perfect gift, he couldn’t do so by looking at some files about him. It almost felt like cheating. If he wanted to impress Nagisa and make him happy, and he really did, then he wanted to do so by himself. Nagisa was that one person who Karma felt was really worth all the effort. 

Finally, his attention returned to the mission at hand. The thought of Nagisa didn’t entirely leave him as he looked back down at the drawer he’d opened again, but at least it wasn’t in the foreground anymore. He browsed through the top of the files. They all listed names and ages on the top, to make the browsing easier. which was how Karma noted something odd. 

The files weren’t just about children. There were adult files too. A Yara Pollen, aged 29. Some dude named Brent West, 34. Mirko Dulik, aged 30. Karma wasn’t sure why it surprised him so much, but it did. If Santa held all the information about adults, too, then shouldn’t he be able to find out who’d been naughty and was trying to sabotage Christmas. 

Surely, his father had thought of that. For whatever reason, this particular crime wasn’t documented in Santa Claus’s files. That could mean many things. Karma had a sort of hunch on the situation, however, one that was supported by the gut feeling in his stomach. His dad had said he may have felt the Santa sense, perhaps that’s what it was. 

So he settled on a clue about the true culprit, after all. Whoever was trying to ruin Christmas must know how Santa’s list worked. They must know about these files and perhaps even how to manipulate them or, at the very least, be able to edit them. Whoever was doing it must have been at the North Pole at least long enough to figure out how the system worked. 

Lucky for Karma, that really narrowed down his search. He could also sort of understand why some people could defend it had been him. He supposed he kind of knew about Santa’s files. Then again, there was no way he knew that he could manipulate them in anyways. At least he didn’t think just using a marker would work. If it would, he might have to go cross out some incidents from the past year, just to be sure. 

“This still leaves too many people to exclude myself,” Karma said out loud to himself. 

He looked around the room again, hoping for any other kind of clue. At first he didn’t really see anything, but then his eye fell on a binder that was left open. Carefully, he approached it, wondering what it was for and why it was left open on a random shelf like that. Once he was a mere few metres away, he realized it was empty. 

Confused why there was an empty binder left like that, he closed it to look at the front. Apparently it was supposed to be holding the floor plans for Santa’s HQ. Karma could only assume someone had stolen them. He didn’t think his father would be so chaotic as to take them out and handle them loosely like that. Also, he wasn’t sure why he’d need to do that, he knew the place like the back of his hand by now. 

Karma took his phone out of his pocket and made some pictures of the folder. Unsure what to do next, he figured he should leave the room while he still safely could. It really would be better if he was found in his room for most hours of the day. He had a lot of things to think about now anyways. 

\--------------------

“I don’t know about this,” His mother looked around nervously as she spoke, “If your father found out about it he really wouldn’t be happy. It’s the day of Christmas eve and there’s still presents going missing or being ruined to this day, if he hears any more bad news...” 

Karma couldn’t help but roll his eyes. His mother was overreacting, honestly. Truth be told his father wasn’t really happy about the general situation at that moment anyways. His mood, however, was sure to be improved if there was proof that his own son wasn’t a Christmas ruining bastard. Karma was trying to do exactly that! He  _ should _ be happy. 

“He doesn’t have to find out until I can tell him it was for a good cause,” Karma assured her. 

“I suppose he doesn’t look at it much anyways,” His mother let out with a sigh. “Fine, I’ll get you the spare copy of the floor plans, but you can only look at them for a few minutes and then I’m taking them back!” 

Reluctantly, Karma agreed to those terms, and his mother was off. He waited in their parents’ living room for his mother to return with the object, sitting in a weird silence. It felt a little weird to just sit and wait when Christmas was coming close and the culprit was still at large. Karma almost felt like every moment had to be spent in some weirdly exciting or important way. Or, maybe, he was just being impatient. 

Finally his mother returned, the exact binder Karma had asked for under her arm. She sat down next to him and opened it so they could look at it. Karma was glad she was trying to help him but, really, he could handle that specific part perfectly fine by himself. Still, he let her scroll through the papers, trying to not be unappreciative of her motherly kindness too much. 

“Wait stop,” He suddenly interrupted her page browsing. “What’s that square right there? There’s nothing there in the actual building.” 

His mother frowned down at the paper, trying to see what her son was pointing at. When she realized what he’d meant, the look on her face didn’t change. She didn’t seem to know what it was either. To Karma it looked like the same symbol the map had used for doors, but slightly smaller and different. It was close enough to be recognizable, however. 

“It must be something that was planned but not built?” His mother suggested. “Or maybe something that was taken out later…” 

“No, I-” Karma took the binder from his mother and traced his finger along the hallways on the picture, recognizing exactly where on the map they were. “I think I might know how to find out who’s been framing me.” 

A look of shock crossed his mother’s face at those words. Karma, on the other hand, felt his lips curl up into a smirk. In his mind he complimented his own intelligence and great detective work as he turned to his mother once again. 

“Get dad and whoever else needs to hear, it’s time we see who’s really on the naughty list.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is the morning of Christmas eve so... I guess that means Christmas rlly is coming up huh? time to save some last minute shit with Santa, babeeey!
> 
> Do I still even have to mention I don't reread these? this is what happens when I try to post a chapter everyday.


	20. December 20th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of Christmas Eve, we find out the culprit and start the real trip to save Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning this chapter is a little longer than the previous ones have been! normaly 1 to 2k, now 4k :)

It took about twenty minutes before Karma and his mother had gathered who they thought were important to be at the revelation. Really, that had only been Santa and the head elf, but those turned out to be the hardest people to find on the entire North Pole. A few other elves had joined them along the way, apparently very curious to find out what kind of proof Karma was going to present. Karma didn’t mind, rather, he considered more witnesses better to build his case on. 

Their guests of honour, however, didn’t seem very pleased to be there. His father had been rather busy because Christmas eve was that exact day and he needed to fly out soon, so he had a good reason. Charles, however, was just being whiny, in Karma’s opinion. The elves could function properly enough without their constant supervision. That didn’t stop either of them from complaining about the situation, however. 

“Karma I don’t know if you noticed, but it’s 10 AM,” His father said in a serious tone. “I have to be out pretty soon and a lot to organize, still. There are still a lot of gifts to remake and wrap up before I can fly out  _ tonight _ .” 

Karma let a cocky smile remain on his face as he faced his father. The information he was about to unveil was important for the exact reasons his father had just listed. If anything, he should know that and just listen to him already. Not that Karma had had very high expectations of the exact people who’d been so dead set on accusing him prior. 

“Well, as long as someone is still trying to sabotage Christmas, that might all be a wasted effort, right?” Karma spoke up. 

“HA! So you’re admitting it then!” Charles basically yelled, catching everyone’s attention, as he pointed at Karma accusingly. “You’re admitting you’re still sabotaging Christmas!” 

No one really said anything, even Karma took a moment to remain silent. Mostly, he was holding back from attacking the little man in front of him. It wouldn’t do well for his case to suddenly act out in violence. Though, it was very tempting. They didn’t have the time. Everyone needed to know the truth now so all the problems could be compromised for immediately. So, Karma just took a deep breath, before speaking up again. 

“No, actually,” He simply said. “I’m going to show you who is.” 

The hallway filled with some murmurs as everyone looked at Karma with big eyes full of surprise. There was a certain air of disbelief, one Karma was sure he could get rid of the moment he showed them the proof. They did need to listen to him for that, though. He shushed them, a little hopelessly, until his father intervened by telling the elves to shut up more effectively. 

He wasn’t entirely sure where to start, but he figured he’d need to introduce his general research before he got to the climax of the story. Then again, they didn’t need every detail to understand what was going on, and they were kind of in a hurry. The best he could do was go for a summary, then. 

“So, to prove my innocence, because I am in fact innocent, I started by investigating the factory,” Karma started. “There, I found unknown hairs and these fingerprints which all of you assumed to be mine. Well, they were. However, they were planted, noticeable because of the sticky residue of sticky tape around the print indicating it was copied there from the fingerprint they got somewhere else. 

And I have an explanation for that, too. Remember how I said I thought someone broke into the house? I told everyone they hadn’t taken anything, and I didn’t think they did. However, they took my fingerprints, probably of some glass or doorknob, so they could frame me for this crime.” 

With a little glance around the crowd, Karma figured his arguments must be convincing. Quite some faces presented a look that said they believed him, a lot of them still a little shocked. He supposed the whole case had become a lot more complicated from when it started. Some elves actually looked a little intrigued, like they were watching their favourite crime show. 

“This tactic is kind of childish and simple, I mean I knew how to do this when I was in kindergarten.” Karma continued, but when he saw the glare in his father’s eyes he quickly corrected himself as he went on. “Not that I ever used that for anything! Just general knowledge. But, more importantly, I have more to discuss. 

See, I checked out Santa’s office too. The most prominent evidence I can bring was the missing floor plans. At first I thought they were just so this culprit could find his way around, which was a rather logical deduction I was sure others made too. 

His father nodded. “We figured they didn’t know their way round, yes.” 

More people around Santa nodded. It seemed everyone had been aware of this clue, even the elves that weren’t involved in organization. However, they were not yet aware of another connotation of this particular evidence. 

“Don’t they, though?” Karma asked his father. “Would someone who doesn’t know their way around know how to manipulate your files? If this person didn’t know the North Pole’s working, they wouldn’t have erased their crime from their file so you couldn’t just read to see who has been doing it.” 

His father made a look which Karma recognized to be showing confusion. He took a moment to think, opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. He’d definitely recognized exactly what Karma’s point was. 

“They stole the blueprints to hide something they knew was on it that others may have looked past,” Karma shared the rest of his information. “Not knowing there was a backup, of course. The culprit has been hiding right in this building, which is how they managed to keep sabotaging everything. 

For a moment, there was another silence. Karma felt like ending it, so he approached a painting hanging in the hallway room. The painting itself wasn’t that special, just some portrait of one of the reindeer, Comet specifically. What was odd about it, was the list it was in. None of the other reindeer portraits in that specific hallway had, on closer inspection, a list with a slightly damaged part that looked as if it had been touched too many times. 

Karma pressed the spot on the portrait and, with great speed, the painting swung open like a small door. The movement prompted a surprised gasp from the crowd around them. Even Karma was a little surprised, and very relieved, considering he hadn’t been entirely sure of what he was about to show the people in front of him. He felt grateful it was something along the lines of what he’d expected. 

The general idea was that whoever was ruining Christmas had been hiding in whatever room lay beyond this painting. Karma had no idea how long someone had been hiding there or if they were in there at that moment, but he guessed they were. Considering the chaos in Santa’s workshop, it probably hadn’t been very safe for their criminal to just run about. 

“This is the culprit’s hiding spot,” Karma turned back to his father and the people around him. “Now all we have to do is go in there and find evidence or see who’s-” 

Before Karma could finish his sentence there was a loud bang and more sounds of small explosions and suddenly the hallway was filled with smoke. Smoke bombs, Karma recognized that instantly. Their culprit was trying to get away. He tried to stand in front of the portrait to stop whoever would run out, but he felt someone push him aside. 

He got a glimpse of a black cape with a hood as he turned to follow the figure. Yelling out the words of his direction, he started to pursue. Internally, he thanked whatever deity existed for the great width of Santa’s hallways, so it was easier to run through with a more limited sight. It didn’t take long, however, before he was out of the smoke cloud and could see his target more clearly. This was also when Karma noted more people were running along with him, among many, also his parents. 

The figure ran outside, opening the wide doors of Santa’s workshop to nearly slip as they ran onto the snow outside. They tried throwing the door on Karma’s face, but Karma slipped through before he could properly do so. As he followed them, Karma ripped out a giant candy cane from the cold floor, barely stopping to do so. 

With one last sprint, he came closer to the hooded figure and swung the candy cane, hitting the other person from the side. Apparently, he’d hit them hard enough because, luckily, he immediately tumbled to the floor as he lost his balance. Karma immediately dove down to pin them down before pulling their hood up and portraying a confused look on his face. 

“Who are you?” He asked, puzzled. 

Finally, the others approached them, too, getting to a halt and observing the scene in front of them. Karma saw his father push his way through the crowd, followed by his mother. They looked as confused as he did. However, Karma was sure that his father knew who the figure beneath him was. If anyone could recognize any person on earth, it would be his father. 

“Iris Sivakov?” His father said surprised. “don’t tell me-  _ you’re sabotaging Christmas _ .” 

For some reason, all the elves seemed very appalled. Karma was pretty sure he was missing some information, because he had no idea who this Iris Sivako or whatever was. His father seemed to notice his disorientated state in the situation and let out a sigh before he started to explain to his own son. 

“Used to be married to Alexei Sivakov,” His father sounded a little hesitant. “...The previous Santa Claus.” 

\-------------------------

“Charles ensure the gift wrapping is continued!” His father ordered, “You’re in charge while we try to figure this out, okay.” 

The general mood was tense, still filled with the same stress as before, but somehow worse. Karma wasn’t sure if this was the usual Christmas stress or if it was caused by the woman who was currently tied down to a chair in Santa’s office, but it affected even him. Luckily, Charles seemed entirely capable and ready to do his job. So, he saluted Santa as he walked off. 

“Leave it to me, boss!”

And check the sleigh!” Santa yelled after him, “Ensure nothing is wrong.” 

With that the only people left in the office were Karma, his parents, and the infamous Iris. She had a particularly disgruntled look on her face. Karma recognized it from all the weird villainous-like people that were beaten by the E-class back in junior high. Of course she was angry, her plans were now ruined. 

Holding some absurdly calm temper, his father took his own chair and sat in front of her. Somehow he was keeping a kind look on his face, even as he stared right into the eyes of someone who had previously been trying to ruin his entire holiday. Karma wasn’t sure he could ever do that. 

Really, the woman in front of him had tried to ruin Christmas for everyone  _ in the entire world _ , not just for them. That was an overall bad thing to do. On top of that, Karma had a personal dispute with this lady, considering she’d been trying to frame him for the whole ordeal. Because of that he hadn’t only been treated like a criminal, he ruined his thing with Nagisa, too. 

“Iris, why would you of all people want to ruin Christmas?” His father asked the lady with a patient voice. “You’ve experienced the magic first hand, you should understand how important and beautiful it is. You literally were Mrs. Clause.” 

She rolled her eyes. “I was… until you killed him.” 

That comment hit very deeply. The entire room turned silent as the three of them realized just what this was all about. This was about what had happened all those years ago, at the Akabane house, the night Karma started his father’s career as Santa by forcing him to put on that red coat. However, this wasn’t about that detail, but about the thing that had happened right before it. 

All three people in the room had been witnesses of it, technically all guilty, too. The only reason his father had become Santa was because the old one was gone, those were the rules of Santa’s being. That December night, the akabane family had sort of caused the ending of the previous Santa, by scaring him and causing him to fall off the roof. 

None of them had ever even thought about it much. There really had been a previous human being, one who may have had a family as well. Yet, there they were, absolutely oblivious and only thinking about the things immediately at hand. 

“You don’t deserve to be loved by all these children,” Iris continued and Karma noted the slightly russian accent she was sporting. “These children think you’re Santa, but you’re a killer, and I’ve been making sure they’d stop all this praise of you.” 

Karma noted his parents exchanging looks, ones he recognized to be filled with guilt. In a way, Iris had been right, but Karma couldn’t entirely accept her actions either. She wasn’t just ruining  _ their _ lives, but that of many, if not all, around the world too. So, Karma moved past the feeling of guilt, knowing right there just wasn’t the moment for it. He stepped in front of her, glaring at her as she spoke. 

“I get that you’re angry,” He told her, “But this is no longer about that incident. If I know anything about Santa, even if it isn’t my father, I know he must have loved Christmas. And he surely must love Children. If your husband was Santa, and you’re trying to avenge him, you’re doing it entirely the wrong way. I’m very sorry for your loss, and I do feel bad, really. 

But your husband would have never wanted you to ruin Christmas in his name.” 

Though she didn’t really say anything, Karma knew she felt bad. He wasn’t an expert at reading people, but even he could see the upset look that crossed her eyes for a mere second, before it went away. It was clear that she was trying to hide her sadness and shame. Instead, she let out a small laugh before looking up with a newly venomous look in her eyes as she glared right back at Karma. 

“Too bad, because the damage is done,” She said. “I messed up the list, I mixed up the names on the gifts, and ruined that little sleigh of yours. You’re too late.” 

Karma took a step back, a little perplexed about her reaction. If what she was saying was true, then they had a lot of chaos and problems to fix within a very small time frame. He turned to look at his father, who appeared to be deep in thought. Surely, he knew how to solve everything. Karma may give his father shit for quite a number of things, but when it came to anything Christmas related, he always knew what to do. 

Still not saying anything, he got up and started pacing for a bit. Karma exchanged a look with his mother, who seemed as worried as he himself felt. A few seconds passed, which to Karma felt like they lasted both forever and went by too fast, considering they needed all the time they had to fix everything. Finally, his father stopped. 

“Get half of the building elves to look at the sleigh, make sure that’s all they have to do today,” His father started listing orders, “Mrs, Clause, you aid however you’re needed at the wrapping station, make sure to pack everything easy to make it go faster. And you-”

Karma’s eyes grew wide as his father turned to him. 

“You help me with the list.” 

\--------------------

“And everything is fixed?” Santa stroked the front of the sleigh as he observed it, “You’re sure nothing bad is going to happen?” 

The small elf in front of him nodded eagerly. “The engine was very ruined before but it operated perfectly now! We didn’t find anything else out of place!” 

Once again, Santa circled the sleigh as elves were frantically loading it with bags of toys. He looked worried, still, which was quite understandable considering the danger he might be getting into. There was always some chance there was still something wrong and he’d get into an accident. 

Besides, there were more things to worry about, too. Though everything was packed and labeled and appeared to be well, it really wasn’t. Even if they’d spent hours intensely focused on trying to undo what Iris had done, the list still wasn’t entirely in order and if they left things the way they were, many children would be getting the wrong presents or some nice children wouldn’t be getting anything at all. 

“It’s an utter mess,” his father mumbled, and then speaking louder again. “I’m going to somehow have to work on the list as I deliver the presents. It's… it’s a mess and I’m not going to be able to deliver anything on time or...at all…” 

The mood in the room grew very tense after he’d said those words. Everyone had been thinking it, Karma was sure of it, but he supposed everyone also wanted to believe in Santa Claus so badly. They wanted him to be able to do it. however, this really was too much, even for Santa. Really, it seemed the best they could do was damage control. 

Karma was about to accept that fate, though he really didn’t want to, when his father turned to him with a solemn look in his eyes. Though Karma didn’t know what his father was thinking or what he wanted to say, he had some kind of feeling he already understood. It felt weird. 

“Karma,” His father addressed him, “I need you to come with me.” 

For a moment, Karma just stared. He wasn’t entirely sure what to think or what was happening was even true. It appeared his father really had just asked him to help him do Santa’s job, delivering the presents to the children around the world. He wasn’t sure he was exactly the right person for that. Still, he didn’t want to disappoint anyone either. IF he really could help save Christmas, he felt he had to take that chance. 

He nodded, accepting the responsibility. 

“Good,” His father smiled, “Then you’d better get changed, because we’re leaving any minute now.” 

\--------------------

Somehow, Karma had forgotten in quite a small period of time just how fast the sleigh was. It made sense, of course, if one had to bring presents around the entire world in a night, one would have to go fast. It was kind of bothersome that Karma wasn’t used to it. He was supposed to help his dad with the list and present sorting as they went, but he really felt like he had to hold onto something the entire time. 

On top of that, he felt a little ridiculous dressed  _ entirely _ in red. Well, red and white of course. Somehow his father had gotten him to wear a Santa-esque outfit, though a little more slim, thankfully. If Karma had to compare it to anything, it felt like proper fighting clothes, much like his 3E PE outfit, so at least he was somewhat comfortable in the cargo fabric and what felt like protective materials near vulnerable places. 

He did wonder why his father owned that. 

The sleigh made another sharp turn and Karma got a weird feeling in his stomach. He didn’t get flight sick, there was no way. Honestly, he didn’t have the time to deal with that. He tried to focus back on the book in his hand, the cover of which read the words “Naughty & Nice” in decorative gold letters. It wasn’t easy to read the names and look through behaviour to see whether they were naughty or nice, to then also try to sort through the presents, but he couldn’t exactly ask for Santa’s help considering he needed to fly the sleigh. 

“This isn’t going to work,” Santa said, getting a very clear idea of the situation with just one look over his shoulder, “We need someone else in here.” 

Karma couldn’t agree more. “Who can we still ask at this point?” 

His father didn’t immediately answer, instead he threw the reins over to Karma, who instantly knew he had to take over. Luckily, he was rather good at catching, and held them steady as his father disappeared below him with some gifts Karma had thrown to him before. Karma tried to focus on the reindeer, watching them run on nothing in front of him and hoping they wouldn’t go too wild on him. 

If things continued like that the entire night, they’d never finish in time. He couldn’t help but wonder how his father would usually do it. Probably, without having to ensure every single gift is in order all the time. Karma was also pretty sure he parked the sleigh every once in a while. Apparently, they were in too much of a hurry to do that now. 

Eventually his father returned, jumping back into the sleigh. He was a little out of breath, probably from all the jumping into chimneys, or whatever. There was a chance his father was skipping all the milk and cookies this year, which was kind of a funny image to Karma. This was turning into a diet and exercise combination for his dad. He knew he shouldn’t say that out loud, though. 

“We’re already above Australia now, flying back will cost us even more time…” His father continued their talk as if he hadn’t even left. “I don’t know who’s close enough and willing to help who… well who I can think of at least.” 

Karma turned a page in the book and grabbed more packages from one of the bags behind him. “If we have someone extra to sort out the gifts or work the list, we’d work ten times more efficiently.” 

“That… yeah,” His father said, a little surprised. “That actually seems like a decent plan… We’d need someone organized and good at figuring out all the information we’re getting here. Logical deduction skills, I suppose.” 

Neither of them said anything as Santa whipped the reins once more to keep the reindeer going. The reindeer sped up once again, where they had been slacking before. Karma just kept thinking. He had some kind of solution, maybe. It was a kind of stupid plan, one that could easily backfire in multiple ways, but it was a plan nontheless. 

“I might know someone,” Karma spoke up, “Do you trust me?” 

The look his father gave him didn’t seem entirely sure. Santa seemed to take a moment to consider everything. At first it really seemed like he didn’t want to comply, but then there was a change in his expression, as if he suddenly remembered something important. When he looked his son back in the eye again, he nodded carefully, but not afraid. 

“Geat, then I know someone who can help us save Christmas,” Karma said. “And with it we might be able to save his, too.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long chapter, very story heavy, but I hope y'all like it! I'm pretty sure no one saw this culprit going but then again....I suppose the head elf really was a more obvious choice. Idk I just really liked the idea of bringing back the previous Santa like that. the Santa Clause movies don't really talk about that fact....
> 
> anyways, heavy Christmas territory now! This is where we get the real fun Christmas shenanigans! 
> 
> also no, I did not feel like proofreading this chapter after working on it like,,,, the entire day :)


	21. December 21th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa's pov Nagisa's pov Nagisa's pov NAGISAS POV

Though Nagisa had yet to look at his alarm clock, he felt he had a pretty decent indication of the time. The fact that it was technically Christmas had some to him, too. It had done so the day before, or perhaps still that day, Christmas Eve, but he’d really repressed it. It must not have been too late, at least it didn’t feel like that to him. To him it only felt like he’d gone to bed a mere hour ago. Sometime ago he must have dozed off slightly, because he did feel like he’d missed a moment of consciousness somewhere along the way. Yet, he was awake now, because of some noise he thought he’d heard only a few seconds ago. 

Now, however, he couldn’t hear anything but the faint sound of wind blowing through the trees outside. He figured he may have misheard it, that it may have been a sound that just occured in his dreams. That definitely seemed like a logical conclusion, though it was also very much possible there was still someone outside, even at the late hour. Nagisa simply dismissed the case. 

That was until he heard another noise, something that sounded like the ringing of some bells, somewhere above him. It wasn’t very loud, nor did it last very long, but Nagisa was pretty sure he’d heard it right. When it stopped again, Nagisa laid motionlessly in his bed, waiting for it to happen again. When it didn’t, he let out a breath and felt a weird sense of disappointment in his chest. 

He wasn’t entirely sure why, but the idea of hearing bells reminded him of Karma. That was a phenomenon that had been happening quite a peculiar amount of times since the restaurant incident. Sure, Nagisa had had thoughts about Karma sometimes before, but everything felt a little different now. Perhaps it was the fact that it really had felt like Karma had taken some initiative that Nagisa could somewhat appreciate. But then, he ruined it. 

Specifically, the ringing sound made Nagisa think about what Karma had said after the incident, when he tried to explain why he’d ditched Nagisa. The explanation had been ridiculous, and there was no way Nagisa believed it. Yet, there was something inside of Nagisa that wondered why Karma had gone for that excuse. It was just so weird and oddly specific that Nagisa couldn’t imagine anyone really thinking it would work or even think of using it in the first place. 

Karma’s dad being Santa Claus? That was ridiculous. 

Still, the look on Karma’s face had seemed very genuine. That was what confused Nagisa the most, the way Karma had said it. The one thing Nagisa felt he was actually kind of skilled at was reading people, and it only took a single look at Karma’s face in that moment for him to see that he meant everything he was saying. It really was like Karma believed that his father was Santa Claus. 

Nagisa let out a huff and grabbed at his covers, angrily pulling it over his shoulder as he turned to his side. He didn’t want to think about that moment too much, because it just sucked. He quite vividly remembered arriving home very upset, slamming the front door behind him and pissing off his mother in the process. Even as she called after him, asking what he thought he was doing and why he was acting all mad, he had just kept storming to his room. 

After that shitty affair, he really didn’t feel like discussing it with his mother. She hadn’t even been a fan of the whole dinner thing in the first place, and perhaps she’d been right about how he shouldn’t go to it. Whatever storm of a bad mood she was about to unleash, Nagisa didn’t want to deal with it just yet. He’d felt like he had his own one still coming up. 

Now, as he laid in his bed awake way too deep in thought, he cursed himself for the amount of self-pitying he’d been up to in the past days. As if the holidays weren’t bad enough by themselves, he just went and made it even worse for himself and started overthinking quite literally everything. From simple tasks like making breakfast to dealing with thoughts about Karma. 

Karma, who had actually texted him after the incident. Though messages were harder to read than someone who was actually standing right in front of you, Nagisa really felt like there was a level of guilt and a genuine excuse in the message he’d received. The problem was that he hadn’t known what to answer. 

He’d considered many options, such as “Maybe think about your actions better next time” or “Can you give me the actual reason?” but neither of those had felt right, too passive aggressive for him. “Then why did you do it?” hadn’t seemed like the right message to start with, and a simple “it’s okay, I forgive you” was a full on lie. 

The message he’d typed most often was also the one he’d deleted the most. “This date meant a lot to me.” He didn’t feel like he could send it. Whether Karma even considered it a date or not was a scary thing to consider, because he simply didn’t know. With the way he’d brought it, however, it had kind of felt like that. Nagisa had subconsciously wished for it to be, he realized that afterwards. He wanted to know if that was right, for him and Karma to go on dates. If he were to be honest with himself, he had to admit he’d had his doubts about that a few times. 

Suddenly, the sound of ringing bells returned, audibly closer than they were before. Not just that, they also seemed to last a little longer than before. Nagisa still couldn’t figure out exactly where it was coming from. He unraveled himself from the blanket cocoon he’d formed and sat up straight as he focused on the sound intensely. The bells stopped, but Nagisa was sure he hadn’t imagined it this time. 

Carefully, he got out of bed, letting his feet touch the cold floor beneath him. He slowly lifted himself and approached his bedroom window, hoping to see whatever had been making the sound outside. To make sure he could hear it even better, he opened the window and let the cold winter air greet him. He leaned forward slightly to take a better look outside. 

He felt a little shiver run down his spine and goose bumps spread over his arms, figuring he should have known better than to lean into the snowy outside world when he only had the barely warming fabric of his pajamas to protect his skin. So, eventually, he moved backwards, not having seen anything out of place in the street in front of their building. The thought of his neighbours making the noise did come to him, but he did find it particular. 

Just as he was about to close the window again, he heard an odd creaking sound from outside. It didn’t take long for him to realise it had come from the tree in front of his window. For a moment he considered the chance of there being some animal or something in the tree, which calmed down the strange nerves he’d found himself getting. There was definitely something there, Nagisa could sense that at the very least. 

All of a sudden, a flash, something falling and landing in his window sill, scaring him. He yelped and fell backwards in shock. After an attempt to catch himself onto something, he felt himself fall on the floor with a loud thud before looking up again, too shocked to deal with any potential pain from his fall. When he looked up he saw the figure in his window had come to a crouch, now looking into his bedroom. And Nagisa recognized him. 

There, standing in his window, was none other than Karma Akabane, who for some reason was wearing a weird red suit with white fur that Nagisa instantly linked to something along the lines of a Santa suit. He stood there, with his signature smirk on his face, as he looked at the confused Nagisa on the ground. 

“Don’t worry,” Karma simply said, “It’s just me.” 

Nagisa remained on the floor, looking at Karma with a combination of fear and confusion. “I can see that.” 

Karma’s features were barely visible as he stood there, the moonlight from behind him framing his silhouette. Though Nagisa wasn’t sure how or why, he thought Karma looked kind of magical. All in all, it was just a strange situation, one that Karma still hadn’t explained. Really, Nagisa would have loved to know why his friend was in his bedroom in the middle of the night. 

Karma extended his hand, obviously prompting Nagisa to grab a hold of it. Nagisa looked at it with a puzzled look on his face. He wasn’t sure what to do. Honestly, he didn’t even know what exactly Karma wanted from him. He had to admit the sight of Karma reaching out his hand to him from his window made his heart skip a beat, and he just knew he must have been staring at him intensely. 

“We kind of need you,” Karma finally spoke again. “Christmas isn’t going to save itself, it needs a little help this year.” 

For a moment, Nagisa still kept staring, his eyes switching between Karma’s hand and his eyes. The look in his eyes was genuine once again, and Nagisa definitely felt an urge to grab onto his hand. Then again, the words Karma spoke didn’t explain anything to him. What did he mean Christmas needed help saving? 

His questions would soon be answered, as the sound of ringing bells returned, now accompanied with a little more noise surrounding it. Nagisa stood up carefully, not yet taking Karma’s hand, and looked past his friend to see what was happening. Though it was dark, the light of the moon and lanterns offered him enough light to see what went on outside of his bedroom. What he saw, though, was just too odd to process. 

From above, something floated down into his window’s view. It only took a moment for Nagisa to realize what he saw was a sleigh, pulled by what appeared to be nine reindeer. The sleigh moved smoothly and slowly as it came to level with Nagisa’s floor, so Nagisa had the perfect view of the phenomenon. Inside the sleigh was the exact person one would expect to be depicted in it, though never in real life. Sitting there, smiling at him, was someone who Nagisa could only assume to be Santa Claus. 

He was at loss for words, not even sure if what he was seeing was really happening. Santa waved at him and, slowly and unsure, Nagisa raised his hand to wave back. His eyes must have been big in surprise once more, if not even worse than before. Everything about the situation just seemed too unreal. 

“Am I still sleeping?” He asked, suddenly feeling the urge to rub his eyes. 

“No, you’re not,” Karma assured him, “I told you I wasn’t lying.” 

Nagisa looked at him with a bewildered expression. It caused a small laugh to escape Karma, as he seemed to enjoy the situation a little bit. Nagisa supposed Karma was proving some kind of point, even if he wasn’t entirely convinced he wasn’t dreaming the whole ordeal up. Surely, this wasn’t real? If this was happening, then Karma most likely hadn’t lied. And that meant…

“Your dad is-” Nagisa could barely find his own voice as he spoke. “Y-your dad really is  _ Santa Claus? _ ”

“Yes.” 

“ _ Santa Clause exists? _ ” 

Karma nodded, a pride look showing on his face as he looked back slightly before returning his gaze to Nagisa. “I dare say he does.” 

It was a lot of information to take in. Information Nagisa was sure he needed some time for before it really would dawn on him. Santa Claus… real. He’d never believed in the man in the first place, let alone would he start believing in him at the age of sixteen. Santa Claus was something parents told their children about so they’d be nice throughout the year. 

Yet, there he was, right in front of Nagisa. He looked past Karma again, confirming the facts with his own eyes once again. He even gave himself a small pinch, as a last confirmation that he wasn’t dreaming. As it turned out, he really wasn’t. 

“You need to come with,” Karma reached his hand out to Nagisa again, who looked at it in wonder. “Someone really did try to ruin Christmas, and we need someone more in the sleigh to help fix it as we go and deliver the presents. I can’t think of anyone more capable than you.” 

Nagisa looked Karma in the eye, clearly showing his insecurity, before looking at the hand again to avoid eye contact. “Me?” 

Both of them remained there. An odd silence filled the room, one that wasn’t necessarily filled with uncomfortable feelings or the anger Nagisa had felt a few days prior. It was a real moment. It was clear that Karma sensed it too, because he soon spoke up, answering Nagisa’s doubt. 

“Yes,” He said. “There’s no one I trust more.” 

Nagisa couldn’t stop the soft smile from appearing on his face as he heard those words. He raised his hand, promptly taking Karma’s and holding onto it tightly as Karma pulled him along and helped him jump on the sleigh. Even after they’d landed, they needed a moment before they let go, only prompted to do so by the sound of the voice of the other person in their presence. 

“Could you be any less dramatic?” Santa sighed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I legit forgot to write this chapter and just started typing like rlly late and then got distracted a ton. There goes my early night to bed, oops. it's only like 2k, not that long, cuz I figured this was a decent ending for it and i'd just give another 3-4k tomorrow. hope y'all like this! 
> 
> fun fact this scene is like, the reason I thought of this fic last year with Christmas. Legit this scene just came to my mind...


	22. December 22nd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> time to deliver some presents

Karma hadn’t had too many expectations about bringing Nagisa along for Santa’s gift delivery before asking him. Whatever thought there may have been, there was no way he could have predicted to be seeing a brightly smiling Nagisa, enjoying the feeling of flight with the wind in his hair. The laugh that escaped him seemed genuine, and almost childlike. It instinctively made Karma want to smile too. 

It was kind of surprising how much better he was taking the sleigh ride than Karma. Not that Karma was doing bad, he just felt it was a rather bumpy ride that went at an unnatural speed. And it did, go at an unusual speed that was, because they had to travel around the world. They’d already wasted too many hours. It was about time they continued. 

He passed Nagisa the book, figuring it was the most suitable task for the other boy. Nagisa took it, nearly falling down with its weight as it was placed in his hands. Well, there was information about all the children in the world in that book, it only made sense that it would be a little on the heavy side. Karma laughed at Nagisa’s reaction, finding his face kind of entertaining. That was when he noticed something about Nagisa that he may have forgotten about in all the enthusiasm of the moment. 

“Uh, Nagisa-” Karma’s voice was a little softer than usual, a little awkward about making a remark about Nagisa. “You’re- uh, you’re still in your pajamas.” 

Nagisa blinked a few times, before hurriedly looking down. His eyes grew wide and he looked back up again, his mouth now slightly agape in surprise and his cheeks a little red in embarrassment. Karma felt it too, but he also couldn’t help but let the possibility of Nagisa having slept in his underwear that night cross his mind. His face turned even more red than Nagisa’s at that thought, and he really thanked every deity out there that the situation hadn’t ended up being like that. Nagisa was wearing perfectly decent pajamas. 

But pajamas nonetheless. 

“I-I don’t think I should be outside in this,” Nagisa said, though Karma wasn’t sure if he was talking to himself or to him. He’d attracted their father’s attention now, though. “I don’t suppose we have time for me to go back and get dressed?” 

Not saying a word, Santa snapped his fingers and then bent down to pull something out of the bag beside him. Merely showing a smile on his face, he passed a large dark red coat to Nagisa, who carefully took it from him. At first, he just stared at the coat for a bit before letting out a soft “thank you” and then turning to Karma with another surprised smile on his face. 

“Your dad’s actually  _ Santa _ ” He said softly, just to Karma. 

“Yeah,” Karma nodded in response. “I do believe I mentioned that.” 

Nagisa put on the coat and opened the book in front of him, his face turning a bit more serious as he started scanning the pages. Perhaps a small explanation of how the book worked would have been nice, but if Karma had to be honest, he wasn’t entirely sure how to read it either. After staring at it for a few minutes, he’d figured it out good enough for the work he had to do. 

He leaned over Nagisa and pointed him towards the right page. When he leaned back slightly he saw the peculiar look on Nagisa’s face and felt a little bit confused. Then he noticed just how close the two of them were sitting and he moved back hurriedly. He didn’t want to make the flight awkward or anything, but he felt like he’d already done that. 

“You take care of the list,” He explained quickly, “See what their Christmas wish was and whether they have been naughty or nice. If they’re nice read it and the gift and address and I’ll… well, I’ll get the gift-”

“And then I’ll deliver it,” Santa interrupted him, “We do have to get going now, work fast, if we want to make it.” 

A worried sigh escaped Karma. He turned to Nagisa, who mirrored the look Karma felt himself showing on his face as well. The situation was odd, and there was no way to be sure if they could do it. However, both of them did have a certain determination that they’d shown each other before. It was something both of them admired about each other. At the very least, they would try everything to succeed. 

Karma smiled at him again. “Let’s get going then.” 

\--------------------

“Rin Fukunaga, Akatsukashinmachi, 3-32, building eleven, apartment 805,” Nagisa read from the book in front of him. “asked for a skateboard with… a skull on it?” 

Karma rummaged through one of the bags, trying to find some skateboard shaped package. The sack itself was magical, so it would usually give the right gift. Then again, it was a rather hectic night and his own chaotic mind definitely influenced the workings of the magic, so he had to check everything several times. He did eventually manage to pull out the skateboard. He took the tag from it and grabbed his marker, leaving the right name written on the wrapping paper. Then, he tossed it to his father. 

Before anyone could even say another word, his father was out of the sleigh and went to deliver the gifts he and Nagisa had piled up for the particular apartments they were going over at that point. It was a little scary to constantly see his father jump out of the sleigh into the open air like that, but he knew he had to trust the magic. 

It was kind of remarkable how easily Nagisa had gotten a hang of the process. After only a few minutes they really did have some kind of rhythm going, one that got them through the Tokyo districts with more speed than even Santa Claus himself had imagined with the whole ordeal going on. If things continued like they were going, they’d surely make it in time. 

What Karma was impressed by the most, however, was how absolutely wonderful Nagisa looked just by being there. Sure, he was working diligently, taking it all very serious, which was very admirable. However, most of all, he just looked very cute. Whenever something magic happened, he couldn’t help but let out a little giggle that forced Karma’s heartbeat to just stop instantly. 

Just as he was about to say something about it, feeling the need to compliment the other boy to let him know just how amazing just his presence was, his father returned to the sleigh once more and Karma felt himself move back a little. There was no way he was going to make any type of move in front of his dad. He returned to the gifts beside him, waiting for more directions from Nagisa before once again pulling presents out of the bag. 

It wasn’t even more than an hour later when his father returned from a particular set of houses, carrying something with him. Though Karma hadn’t instantly recognized what he’d been holding, it became very much clear to him when his father held it up and presented it with a big smile on his face. 

“Don’t want to leave all those milk and cookies behind,” He explained, tossing one of the two cookies in his hand towards Karma and Nagisa. “I guessed my helpers deserved a snack, too.” 

He turned around to grab the reins again, but winked at the two boys behind him before doing so. Karma figured Nagisa mustn’t have noticed it, or at the very least he didn’t react to it. Instead, he held up the cookie with a curious look on his face. It was definitely a positive expression, though Karma wasn’t sure exactly what kind it was after having seen Nagisa laugh so much in just the past hour. 

Karma watched as Nagisa took a small bite of the cookie. Honestly, he wasn’t sure why even such small actions mesmerized Karma so much. He supposed it was just Nagisa. The other boy just had that effect on him. Suddenly, though, Nagisa turned towards Karma and help the cookie out to his face. 

“Take a bite,” Nagisa said, “It’s really good, I’m pretty sure these were homemade!” 

A strange feeling filled Karma’s stomach as his eyes were stuck on the cookie. Nagisa’s offered him a piece, a bite, even. Not just a piece, he wanted him to take a bite of the exact cookie he’d also taken a bite of. And, from the looks of it, he wanted Karma to take a bit while he was still holding on to the cookie. 

Carefully, Karma moved slightly forward, taking a bite of the cookie in front of him. He bit of a part of it and moved back only a little as he chewed on it. Something about that action had felt oddly intimate, like it really meant something. Nagisa, however, didn’t appear much different from before. 

“there,” Nagisa said innocently, “This is good, isn’t it?” 

Karma swallowed. “Yeah, tastes great.”

Suddenly the sleigh shook, and Nagisa’s arm pulled away from Karma so he could grab a hold of the seat. Both of them looked around confused. The same look appeared on Santa’s face, who was looking around to find the source of their turbulence. Karma took that as a sign that this wasn’t normal. 

Not much else happened, but everyone in the sleigh was a little more on edge now. The previous mood was now etched with a little bit of nerves. Karma couldn’t help but worry if anything else was sabotaged by Iris before they’d left, something which perhaps the elves had missed. He wanted to trust the elves to have done a good job, really. His own safety and that of the others in the sleigh depended on it, after all. 

\--------------------

They were flying over Russia when, once again, a weird turbulence occured. This time, everyone seemed a little more worried. After all, if something happened once it was barely a problem, but twice was a sign that it could happen a lot more. Karma just hoped it wouldn’t happen a third time, because he wasn’t sure anyone would feel safe in the sleigh anymore. 

He wanted to ask his father about it, hoping he had some kind of idea of what could possibly have been causing the sleigh’s oddly bumpy ride. Even if Karma knew the sleigh wasn’t the safest ride of them all, the idea of any risk being added to it could in no way mean anything good. However, he didn’t think his father had any answers either, and even if he did it might just frighten all of them even more. 

So, they continued their flight, following the exact strategy they’d been working with since Japan. Nagisa kept drumming out information and Karma found the matching gifts so his father could jump out and finish the train. Now, however, every action felt a little more tense. And even Nagisa, who didn’t know anything about the possibility of the sleigh being tempered with, could sense the tension in the air and worked with a certain cautiousness. 

Of course the actual incident had to happen when they were in the middle of nowhere, where the only thing below them appeared to be empty snowy fields. The sleigh acted up once again but, instead of ceasing its commotion, it kept going and even started making weird noises. Karma wasn’t sure what the noises were, he wasn’t an expert on the sleigh or on motors or technology in general. He did, however, know that loud screeching noises weren’t good. 

“grab onto something!” Karma registered his father saying. 

He did exactly that, curling his fingers around the seating so tightly he was pretty sure they might ache afterwards. Just as he was about to turn his head he felt the sudden falling movement of the sleigh, gravity pulling the weight of it down. Even he couldn’t help himself from letting out some sound as both they and the sleigh tumbled to the ground beneath them. 

When he did manage to look to his side he saw Nagisa in the same state as him, quite possibly fearing for his life. If he had to be honest, he didn’t think he’d ever be in that kind of situation anymore after 3E. He and Nagisa had been through life threatening stuff before sometimes more together than other times. You’d think that after going to space, technically unsupervised, together that you’d have experienced the wildest of it. 

It never did stop, the stupidly dangerous situations they got into. 

The ground beneath them got so close, and Karma felt all the wind rush past him as he ended up closing his eyes. It wasn’t really intentional. His body had moved for him, closing his eyes as an instinct where he did not want to see his own death happening. Even as his father yelled some words, something that sounded like magic and orders, he just waited for whatever it was that was about to come. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's late, Idek what to say here. This has been a day, and I'm once again late but I don't think people actually are about it as much as I myself do. Do I even have to mention not beta'ing? No? Well Imma keep doing it anyways.


	23. December 23rd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> before they continue their delivery service, they really need to fix Santa's sleigh.

As it turned out, the reindeer were real life savers. Even though the initial shock of the fall had rendered them a little powerless, they’d managed to pull through and land the sleigh with only minor damage. Usually they’d have the sleigh’s engine to support the weight of it, so it was a miracle they’d managed to do anything at all at that point. 

Karma carefully patted around himself, still somewhat afraid something would go wrong. When he got up to see they had crash landed rather safely, he couldn’t help but let out a huge sigh of relief. He then proceeded to look around for the other people in the sleigh. His eyes fell on Nagisa beside him who, though definitely shook, seemed to be doing okay. 

A loud groan came from the front of the sleigh and his father got up too, entering Karma’s view. He looked around with a gruff look on his face, taking in the situation they had found themselves in now. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that this year may very well be the worst Christmas he’d ever experienced. So, Karma definitely understood. 

“Is- is anyone hurt?” Nagisa was the first to speak up. 

Karma looked down at himself and figured he’d be fine. Though he did feel sore in some places, he didn’t think he was horribly wounded somehow. He nodded in response, before getting up carefully and lending Nagisa a hand in getting up too. 

“I think we’re all physically fine, at least,” He let out with a sigh. “What even happened, the sleigh-”

One look at his father’s disgruntled face made Karma stop. The sleigh must be doing pretty rough after such a landing. On top of that, the situation really seemed to suggest the sleigh hadn’t been entirely fixed after being tempered with. Whatever the issue was, though, the elves hadn't been able to find it. There was no way  _ they _ could figure it out.

For a moment, the three of them just stood there, the only sound around them coming from the reindeer who were waiting for orders. They couldn’t pull the sleigh entirely by themselves, as magical as they were, that was just too much. They needed some kind of solution, and preferably quick because the cold December night weather wasn’t treating them well. 

“Maybe we can call someone?” Nagisa suggested. “Someone who knows more about this stuff than us?” 

Santa looked at him confused. “Someone who knows how to fix the engine of a  _ sleigh _ .” 

“W-well, I mean, we know some pretty gifted people,” Nagisa defended his statement, before turning to Karma to address him. “I’m sure one of our former classmates is still awake.” 

He had to agree with his dad, there probably weren’t that many people who would know how to repair Nagisa’s sleigh. Generally speaking, people didn’t even believe it existed. On top of that, they most likely wouldn’t assume it had an actual engine, because the stories always spoke of just the reindeer pulling it forwards. If only things were that easy. 

However, he also knew that they were in quite a situation. So, he pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts to find the right person. Nagisa mimicked that action and grabbed his own phone. Karma decided to call the first person he could think of after Nagisa mentioned who he’d try to call. Luckily for Karma, he didn’t even have to wait that long before someone picked up. 

“Why are  _ you _ of all people calling me in the middle of the night?” Itona’s voice sounded through his phone’s speakers. 

“Good morning to you too,” Karma answered, “I need help with a broken engine, preferably without any questions asked or it ever being mentioned again. You seemed like a decent genius to call up.” 

Perhaps it was a bit of flattery to call Itona a genius, though he was nothing short of it. The guy knew about electronics and inner workings of things, after all. If there was any chance of getting help from him, Karma was sure they’d get a lot further than they’d get with just the three people that were actually present. 

“Engines aren’t my thing,” Itona sounded tired as he spoke, “I do electronics. You should call Yoshida.” 

“He’s not picking up,” Nagisa spoke up as he joined Karma. 

“Nagisa?” Itona’s voice spoke, only now aware of Nagisa’s presence. “What are you two doing in the middle of the night with some kind of broken engine?” 

Karma felt himself grow impatient. “Doesn’t matter, all that matters is that it  _ really _ needs to be fixed. Like,  _ badly _ . Life or death situation.” 

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. Karma looked at Nagisa, who was staring back at him too, waiting for a response. Their friend had probably only been silent for a few seconds, but the situation was under so much time pressure that neither of them felt like they could wait that long. When they finally did hear their friend’s voice again, they were almost desperate to hear every word. 

“Okay, well it depends on the engine,” Itona started rambling, Karma and Nagsia scrambling along to hang over the sleigh’s engine as he spoke. “If it’s more powerful it probably has more protection over it, so if something is wrong it might be hidden under that, it’ll probably be really clear when you see it though. I don’t know much about big engines like that, as I already said, but just don’t cut any bundled up wiring.” 

Silent as to not interrupt Itona’s help, Nagisa pointed at some screws holding down a black cover in the engine. Karma understood what he was trying to say and went to take it off. Once that cover was off, they followed along with Itona’s steps and explained what they saw along the way. Neither Karma nor Nagisa really understood most of what Itona said, and were blindly going along with him. 

Santa looked over their shoulders, a worried look on his face. Perhaps it was a little scary to have some teenagers working on your magical sleigh that carried you across the entire world and over oceans and all. Still, he stood aside and let them be. The only thing he could do was trust that they knew what they were doing. 

It would not have been great for his nerves to hear that they did in fact not. 

“-and then you close it,” Itona finished off, and Karma followed the step. “Now it should run for some time. You just have to fix it immediately when you can… by someone who does know what they’re do-” 

“Thanks so much Itona wehavetogonowbye!” Karma quickly hung up the phone. 

When he turned around to the two people behind him, he noticed they had confused looks on their faces. They seemed a little appalled at his action. To be fair, he had interrupted and hung up on the exact person that had just saved them. 

“Hey look, we’re in a hurry, aren’t we?” He defended himself. “Let’s get going.  _ Save Christmas _ and whatnot. No time to lose.” 

That, they could all agree on. So, they all got in the sleigh again, this time quite nervous if it would even lift off the ground and even more so if it would stay in the air. Not only did they not have time for another crash, they also weren’t a big fan of the general danger that came with it. They couldn’t help but fear for their lives a little again as they raced up. 

The sleigh, however, was back in the air, and it seemed it would stay that way. 

\--------------------

They continued their delivery services across the world, keeping in mind the timezones they were traveling through. They’d started east and made their way west, ensuring they’d handle North America the last. It was a strategy, one that Santa Claus had followed for years. Simply put, it was the most efficient. 

At that moment they were flying somewhere over Europe, though Karma had to admit he was kind of lost about the specific location due to the fatigue that was slowly approaching him. He supposed hours of the same repetitive work did that to someone, even if there was technically a lot of stress behind the situation. To think they’d only crashed a few countries ago and somehow he was already calm enough to get tired again. 

Perhaps it was the other way around and he was tired because he’d been so panicked before. 

The sound of Nagisa’s voice woke him up. He called another child’s information and their wish, with a little more difficulty on the words than he’d had back in Japan. It was relatively harder to pronounce some very European street names. The funniest so far had been when Nagisa tried to figure out how to read German town and street names. The amount of unfamiliar accent letters that language had made it very hard for Nagisa, a Japanese boy, to read out loud. Karma, of course, enjoyed it. 

“Emily Pol, G-Grun- Groen van Pinsteren-Pinsterere-  _ The street we’re flying over right now _ -” 

They weren’t above Germany anymore, but the streetnames in this place were just as funny to hear coming from Nagisa’s mouth. The smirk that appeared on his face was modest, really, because he was holding back from actually laughing at the other boy. Said boy, however, very much noticed his look and glared at him in response. 

“Just get the My Little Pony island set she asked for,” Nagisa complained. “Unless  _ you _ want to try speak Dutch.” 

Karma did not. As bad as Nagisa was doing at it, he didn’t really feel like he’d do better if he took over. Instead, he stuck his hand in the bag and got out the right package, happily surprised to find it had the right name on it for this one so he could just pass it on to his father with ease. 

The pronunciation struggles continued for a while, until they left The Netherlands and flew over the water to approach the UK, which language Nagisa was a bit more familiar with. Though it still didn’t sound very british or anything, it definitely sounded a little better at times. This time, Nagisa actually tried to say the street names and all, instead of just giving up on them. It was clear he prefered to stick to Japanese, though. 

Then, at a certain point, Karma stuck his hand in the bag, only to find out nothing came out. He raised an eyebrow, confused about what was happening. The thought crossed his mind that perhaps he’d done it wrong. Magic was kind of tricky, after all. However, after trying to pull out the present another time, he still found his hand to be empty. 

He looked up at the others in the sleigh. “Uh, I don’t think there’s a gift?” 

A matching confused look crossed over Nagisa’s face. He turned to the book again, moving his finger over the page to properly trace what he was reading, just to make sure he was reading it well. When he turned back to Karma, the confusion was not gone yet. 

“She’s definitely on the nice list, though,” Nagisa remarked. “She wanted a playstation, you’re sure you focused on the right gift?” 

Karma knew he’d done it right. He’d done it right for about half their world trip now. All he had to do was think of the gift and the recipient and the magic sack would give it to him. Even if the wrong name was on the package, the magic knew what was right, as it always did. The only reason it wouldn’t give him the present was if there was none. 

But if a child was on the nice list, the gift should be there. 

Suddenly, Karma realised something. “How possible is it that we missed a gift because of all the chaos? That it just disappeared with the whole make up time?” 

“...It’s possible,” His father added to the conversation, a bit quiet. “Which means this child won’t get her gift.” 

Everyone was silent in response to that. It wasn’t right. If someone really had been nice, it would be just cruel to skip them. For all they knew, this child might assume she’d been naughty all year and they’d just make her feel bad. No one amongst them wanted to be responsible for something like that. 

Even Karma felt bad. He didn’t usually openly genuinely pity someone like that, considering problems like this weren’t exactly involved in his daily life. Generally speaking, he didn’t need to worry about that kind of thing. And even if he somewhat could, he usually just tried to not get involved. Though, it was a bit late for that now. He was in way over his head, and he wanted this child to get her gift. 

Out of nowhere, he thought of something. “I have a playstation?” 

Nagisa and his father exchanged a look, something which Karma found to be peculiar. What were both of them thinking about that they’d felt the need to make that contact with each other. He looked between the two of them. Both of them just looked very surprised. 

“You’re… You want to give this child your playstation?” His father asked. 

“If we can get it here on time, yes,” Karma answered, “I suppose it’s something I can live without.” 

Once again there was a silence. Karma found the look on his father’s face to be peculiar. Perhaps it was the fact that his question of verification sounded so doubtful, but Karma felt like he wasn’t being taken seriously. However, he really was serious about it, he didn’t need the playstation that badly probably. 

“You’re sure?” His father confirmed. “I gave you that for your birthday last year, though.” 

“Yeah, I guess,” Karma shrugged, “But I also have a myriad of stuff anyways, a lot of which you gave me. I think this kid’s happiness is more important than me having just another gaming console, so I can give it up if it makes her Christmas better.” 

His father smiled at him. He didn’t immediately say anything, instead grabbed for the bag he held on his own side and stuck his arm in. When he took it out again, he was holding a playstation, and he went back in again to also get the controllers. Santa’s magic surprised Karma, even now. On the one hand, this was very useful. On the other hand, Santa really was a useful burglar. Karma wondered if this was only limited to toys and other gifts. 

Once all the items were piled up, Karma had to admit it was a little weird to realize his playstation had just been magiced to the sleigh. He saw his father look around a little disoriented, and then shaking his head. Just as Karma was about to ask about it, he spoke up himself. 

“No time or supplies to wrap it, I guess,” He said, seemingly not too upset about it. “One unwrapped gift will probably be fine.” 

Karma was kind of glad he’d kept his console in such good condition. Who’d have known he needed it for something like this? He sure hadn’t. Really, he was fine with it. It was a little weird for it to come unwrapped and without a box, but he supposed it could be seen as ‘ready to use’ or something along those lines. This kid was going to be happy with it nonetheless, probably. 

When he looked up again he met eyes with Nagisa, who was smiling brightly at Karma. Karma blinked in response and looked away for a second before letting out an awkward laugh, unsure how to handle the situation. 

“W-what?” he managed to ask.

“That was… really kind of you…” Nagisa said to him, softly. 

Karma wasn’t sure how to respond. No words came out of his mouth as he just kept staring at Nagisa’s smiling face. The heat rose to his face, and he felt himself blush. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, we're really nearing the end of this, huh? Only one more real chapter and then the epilogue. Tho I suppose the epilogue is still kinda long and basically just a chapter. I just want to call it that. 
> 
> I really love all the comments so much! And not just the comments but also the people who respond to the fic on discord (don't worry, I see and appreciate you). Tomorrow's posting time is a questionmark cuz I have a lot of baking and cooking to do for Christmas eve so ....we'll see :)


	24. December 24th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything comes to an end, even the longest Christmas night one can experience.

Santa had collected all the toys he needed for this particular street. It wasn’t a particularly big amount of houses, but it apparently had enough children for Santa to have quite a few addresses to deliver to. Not that it mattered much, they were ahead of schedule anyways. The only thing that could have brought them off schedule after their crash had been the missing present, and that had just been fixed. 

His dad had gone for a bit, and Karma and Nagisa just went over the next couple of houses Santa would deliver to. At this point, Nagisa was basically a pro at reading the list, so there wasn’t much delay going on. Karma couldn’t critique him a lot, but it wasn’t like he wanted to anyways. He quite liked that he and Nagisa worked together so well. 

When his father came back, Karma gave him a puzzled look. The sack he was holding wasn’t empty yet. There was still a little bulge there, which most likely meant he hadn’t delivered all the gifts. He was about to ask about it, but his father responded first by holding the sack out to him with a kind smile on his face. 

“I think you need to deliver this one,” He simply said. “Technically, it did some from you.” 

Confused, Karma took the bag. He looked inside, only to find an unwrapped playstation to be present the top present in the bag. There were some other gifts in there, but those didn’t stand out to Karma as much. His father wanted him to deliver the exact gift he’d just given up. It confused Karma a little. 

He looked up again. “But… why?” 

“It just seems right,” His father responded. “Now get on with it, we don’t have all night.” 

The bag was pushed into his hand. He looked around, seeing Nagisa give him an encouraging smile that matched his father’s. He rolled his eyes, finding the dramatic behaviour of his companions a little funny, too. It wasn’t like he minded delivering the gift though, it was just something he hadn’t done before. 

There was a first time for everything, though. So, he threw the sack over his shoulder and moved to the edge of the sleigh, before jumping down onto the roof beneath them. He had to thank his parkour training from 3E for his skillful moves as he jumped to the next roof, where the exact chimney was that he was supposed to jump through. 

He felt a little nervous about jumping in it. Normally, there was no way a human being could just jump in through a chimney, it really was only possible with Santa’s magic. Karma didn’t entirely understand how it worked, he was honestly convinced no one  _ really _ did, but he knew that as long as he was holding the bag, he should be fine. So he dashed towards this house’s chimney, trying to not hold back as he leaped and managed to somehow enter the house. 

The moment he rolled on the floor and managed to end up on his feet in a stranger’s living room, he did feel a little weird. It did feel a little like breaking and entering, though he supposed he hadn’t really broken anything. Not yet, at least. He wasn’t planning on doing so, obviously, but he couldn’t rule out the possibility entirely. It was a little concerning that that was what was going through his mind as he stood there, rather than any of the actual problems at hand. 

Eventually, he did regain his senses, and he looked around himself. He locked eyes on the tree and made his way over. All he had to do was put the presents under there and he’d be fine. Then, no one in the sleigh could complain about his actions of the night or require even more of him. He didn’t really want that. This was enough work. 

He knelt down next to the tree and put his hand in the sack, pulling out the first gift, and then the second. He put them under the tree, not caring too much about their formation. Whatever kid lived here probably didn’t care much about how their gifts were stacked, as long as they were there. Just as he pulled out the playstation from the sack, the last gift, he heard a soft gasp behind him. 

Quickly, he turned around to see who had made the noise. He’d almost taken a fighting stance as he did. Luckily, he hadn’t, because the person standing in front of him was a literal child. It was just a little girl, around seven to eight years old. She stood there with her mouth wide open, obviously surprised. 

Karma wasn’t sure what to say, so he just stood there, staring back at the girl in surprise. There was a weird silence as both of them stood there. Then, the girl dropped the small blanket thing she was holding, and a small confused smile appeared on her face. 

“Are you Santa?” She asked, speaking English. 

For a second, Karma just stood there. He probably should have expected that, they weren’t in Japan anymore, after all. He tried to smile back, though obviously a little more awkward. The situation was a little unfamiliar to him, and he wasn’t  _ entirely _ sure what to do. 

“Sort of,” He said, in very broken English. “it’s complicated.” 

The little girl looked a little confused, probably because his words had sounded all hacked up and weird. Still, she had a certain excitement in her eyes. Karma couldn’t exactly put his finger on what it was, but it did look kind of adorable. She appeared to be genuinely happy that he was there, even if he had technically broken into her home. 

“Really?!” The little girl enthused. “Is-is that a playstation?!” 

“Yes, uh- Olivia! Oliva Middleton.” Karma remembered Nagisa telling him the girl’s name. “You asked for this, right?” 

Olivia nodded very excitedly. Her eyes wandered from the playstation to Karma, to the playstation, and back to Karma again. A smile curled up on Karma’s face. He somewhat enjoyed the moment, though he supposed he should hurry up and end it already, he needed to get back to the sleigh soon. 

Most likely, just saying they needed to continue delivering gifts would be enough of a reason to leave. They had an entire world to deliver to, so it wasn’t like he’d be lying. Then again, he feared she’d have more questions. Just as he was trying to make up some excuse to leave, Olivia opened her mouth again. Karma wasn’t sure what he had been expecting her to say, but it sure as hell wasn’t the words she actually uttered to him. 

“You don’t look like Santa,” She said. “He’s more fat.” 

Karma let out a small laugh. “I have a better workout than Santa.” 

She nodded, as if she understood what he meant. Honestly, Karma didn’t think she did. He wasn’t sure this little girl understood the weight of exercise or why Santa Claus was fat, really. How much would it have surprised her to know the weight was a magical thing, something his father had gained against his will when he’d become Santa initially. Apparently it was really important for him to look jolly. 

Of course, he didn’t have the time to explain that to her, nor did he have the conversational skills in English. They had to move on, still having quite some countries on their list left that needed presents delivered to. There was no way they’d get that done if he stayed inside this one house too long. 

“You need to go to sleep,” He told Olivia. “Be a good kid and go to bed, then you open your presents tomorrow.” 

Her eyes grew big as she nodded excessively. The enthusiasm betrayed to Karma that she definitely would not be falling asleep anytime soon. He held his finger to his lips to sign to her to keep silent. She mimicked his action and then let out a small giggle before clumsily running up the stairs, almost falling down in the process. 

Karma watched her walk up the stairs, making sure she was gone before he put down the playstation under the tree as the first thing in view. A smile was present on his face, one that could not be described as anything other than genuine. Somehow it did will him with joy to know that his playstation was making someone else so happy, that Christmas was doing that for his child. 

He supposed it really was a rather cool holiday to have your birthday on. 

Realizing he now  _ really  _ had to go back, he moved towards the fireplace, trusting the magic of Santa’s sack to bring him back up to the roof. It did, and Karma only had to make a singly jump to jump back into the sleigh, still holding the same smile on his face. 

He passed the bag back to his father and took his place next to the other magical sacks which he’d been taking gifts out of. From his right, Nagisa was giving him a look, obviously holding back something. Karma looked at him, no foul intentions at all. 

“You’re going to tell me that was kind again?” He teased. 

“I wasn’t going to,” Nagisa said. “But it was, yes.”

Karma turned back to his task and Nagisa did the same, focussing his eyes on the book again. Before he called out the next name, however, Karma did see the soft look Nagisa had on his face. If the happiness of the little girl hadn’t been enough to make Karma’s night, Nagisa’s happiness sure as hell was. 

\--------------------

When they finally finished delivering the last gift, the three of them had a small moment of celebration. Though they hadn’t talked about failing for hours, nor had they considered that was a big chance anymore for a while too, there was still such an air of relief present in the air. They really had done it. 

“That was amazing!” Nagisa said, smiling. “I can’t believe we actually did it.” 

Santa finally let out a big sigh as he landed the sleigh on the north pole. “We sure did, we’d better get out and let the reindeer rest.” 

Karma jumped out before Nagisa, before holding out his hand to help his friend out. Nagisa took his hand, seemingly holding back something as he locked eyes with Karma. Though they weren’t technically in a rush anymore, none of them could wait to get inside and out of the cold outside air. Specifically the snowy cold of the North Pole. 

However, Nagisa had never seen the North Pole before, so he was looking around a lot as they walked to Santa’s HQ, where they were warmly welcomed by the elves and, of course, Mrs. Clause. Mrs. Clause actually kissed her husband, obviously proud of him. She was about to kiss her son on the cheek too, but he very much tried to avoid that. 

She then noticed Nagisa’s presence and, somehow, knew exactly what was up. “You must be this Nagisa I keep hearing about.” 

“I-I… Me?” Nagisa’s cheeks grew red, then he turned to Karma. “When did you talk about me… and why?” 

Karma didn’t have an answer to that. Mostly, he didn’t want to answer that, because it meant he had to admit to some things of which he wasn’t sure what the right words were just yet. Somehow, everyone else seemed to get the hint. Charles led out all the other elves, mentioning the humans could use some privacy. 

So, he just stood there, with his parents watching him intently as he still hadn’t answered Nagisa’s question. He felt pressured, but mostly, he felt like angrily glaring at his mom and dad. The whole thing was just way too awkward. Of course, his father couldn’t leave it at that. 

He snapped his finger, and looked up with a stupid grin on his face. Karma looked up to see what happened and noticed the mistletoe that had suddenly started growing above him and Nagisa. It didn’t take long for Nagisa to follow his gaze, too, and seeing the leaves above them. The shyness was showing on his face. 

Karma put his hands up defensively. “I-it’s okay, you don’t have to-”

His words, however, were interrupted by Nagisa moving forward and kissing Karma. It wasn’t just a kiss on the cheek, their lips connected and as soon as that had happened, Karma didn’t have a singly bit of doubt left in him. He kissed him back. Everything about it felt right. 

When he pulled back, as he eventually really had to, he could see his parents’ faces behind Nagisa. There was a feeling of embarrassment there, but overall the moment was so good that it really couldn’t be ruined. He looked away from his parents, trying his very best to ignore their entire presence in the room. Instead, he just looked at Nagisa. 

“Please tell me you’ve wanted to do that for a while,” Nagisa managed to say through all his smiling. “Because the dinner thing, I thought it was-” 

“Yes.” Karma interrupted him. And, though he wanted to explain more, that was really the only word that managed to leave his mouth. 

The moment was interrupted as his father finally did walk up to them, the former familiar grin no longer on his face. He let out a small sorry before snapping his fingers in front of Nagisa’s face. As if on cue, Nagisa’s eyes fell closed, and his body went limp. Before he could completely fall over, however, Karma managed to quickly catch him. 

He looked up at his father with big eyes as he held his friend, now possibly more than that, in his arms. A moment of confusion and shock passed for Karma, as he processed what had just happened. It was only then that he noticed his mouth had fallen open and not closed just yet. 

_ “Why did you do that?” _

His father let out a sigh, but did smile at his son again. Karma didn’t understand what was happening and why his father was smiling about his actions. Not that he’d understood a lot of what had happened that night, but this was just straight up random. He’d basically forced them to kiss just seconds ago and now he was acting like this? 

“It’s just for the better, makes it easier to get him home and back in bed, “ His father explained, calming Karma a little. “Don’t worry, this really is the best way for him to deal with it… and also the best way for him to actually get sleep. Besides, we have to deal with some last things concerning Iris and I don’t think he needs to be involved.” 

Honestly, Karma had almost forgotten about Iris again. He supposed that after her plan had failed, and he’d just gotten something that may have made his night the best one he’d ever had even with all the shit that had happened, that entire business hadn’t minded him as much anymore. It was still quite the situation, though. 

His mother explained what had happened while they were gone, which really wasn’t much. Mostly, she’d tried to talk to Iris and she had ignored it. It was evident that none of them really felt like leaving this entire business behind like that, though, all of them feeling a little sour about the situation. Actually, they felt guilty. 

“After what we did,” His mother continued, “I just feel like we should help her get back on her track, rather than punish her.” 

Karma nodded. “Yeah we did kill her husband, pretty serious.” 

“I do agree, I just-” Karma saw his father struggle. “It’s not going to be easy but… I suppose letting her live here unpunished is a start… also so I can oversee her.” 

They all agreed to that. Perhaps it wasn’t the most ideal situation, but for now it would have to do. It was only logical that she’d remain hateful for a while but, perhaps, overtimes she’d learn to move on from the worst of it. Karma knew a thing or two about grieving and, though he wasn’t really through the entire process just yet, he also knew that someone who passed away often wouldn’t want their loved ones to suffer to avenge them. They’d want whatever was best for them to continue their lives. 

That’s what he thought Korosensei would say, at least. 

Eventually, it was time for his dad to bring Nagisa back home. They really couldn’t risk being too late and having his mother find him missing from his bed. So, Santa let Karma carefully lay him down in the sleigh, all the while promising the reindeer this would really be the last ride for that day and then they’d get their well deserved break. They still seemed a little grumpy, however. 

Karma stepped back, a little unsure about the idea of Nagisa waking up the next day without really being able to confirm that everything had happened. Perhaps he’d think it had all been a dream. Not that Karma could really blame him if he did, but he didn’t want that to happen. Not after he finally managed to get to the next step with Nagisa like that. After they’d just gone through such a massively active night together. 

“You might want to get in too,” His father said to him from the sleigh. “Wake up at home, I mean.” 

Karma blinked. “But- I- … I’m here now? You don’t want me to celebrate Christmas with you guys.” 

The look on his father’s face was a little odd, but Karma felt like he could somewhat understand it. It was one of those moments where he felt he could really sense that he was his son. They did have some things in common, after all. Some of his father’s behaviour was definitely something Karma had inherited from his parents. Then again, he wasn’t as jolly as his dad was. He was kind of glad he wasn’t though, he didn’t think he could rock such a belly. 

“You’ll want to be there when you wake up,” His father smiled at him, “Trust me.” 

He wasn’t sure why, but he did. It was odd that the one time he had the chance to celebrate Christmas with his parents, he felt like he shouldn’t. A weird feeling in his stomach was telling him he should leave. He considered if it was the Santa sense thing again, because that would explain why his father was insisting on it too. Whatever it was didn’t matter too much, anyways, because he got on the sleigh anyways. 

“Oh, and, uh- Happy birthday.” His father said, and then he whipped the reins and got the sleigh off the ground to bring them home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there will be another chapter!!!
> 
> I said 24 days of Christmas, but there is more tomorrow. It's kind of an epilogue but... It reads like more of an actual final chapter. Merry Christmas everyone!


	25. Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas day is here.

When Nagisa woke up that morning, he instantly felt a moment of dissociation. It took him a few seconds to process that he was in fact in his own bed, wearing the pajamas he knew he’d went to sleep in the day before. He was not wearing the coat he thought he was wearing anymore. 

Though, perhaps he hadn’t worn it at all. After recalling everything he thought had happened the night before, he did realize just how crazy it sounded. Santa Claus? Flying reindeer? A magical sleigh? There had definitely been real magic, which seemed highly unlikely. Most probably, he’d just dreamed it up. That’s what he tried to convince himself. However, a weird instinct feeling told him something else, something he’d much rather believe. 

He got out of bed, getting dressed in simple jeans and a warm sweater that were more comfortable than they were probably pretty. Not that it mattered, he didn’t have any particular plans that day. Really, he just wanted to get out and go make breakfast so he could spend the rest of the day reading or something. There was sure to be something he could try to work ahead on over break. That was the main thing in his mind as he walked into the living room. 

The thought immediately left him, because the moment he looked up he saw bright lights shimmering around the room, only to be reflected by the shiny Christmas decorations that went with it. There was a Christmas tree in the corner of their room, with red and gold ornaments and even some gifts underneath. Tinier decorative pieces covered other furniture such as the old dresser, which now looked a lot more cheerful than it usually did when it was covered with barely anything other than maybe a vase. 

To top it all of, their dining table was  _ decked _ . There were sandwiches, fruits, eggs, and so much more. On the plates were folded napkins, that made the table look way more fancy than it really needed to be for a normal breakfast. Nagisa noted that this wasn’t a normal breakfast though, it was a Christmas breakfast. 

As if on cue, his mother walked into the room. She stopped right beside him, her face matching the surprised look Nagisa had on his face too, which was a sign that she definitely hadn’t been responsible for this. Her eyes darted around the room. She had yet to say a word. Nagisa felt as speechless as she did. 

He walked in further and found a smile on his face. The wrapped presents under the tree made him think about the thoughts he’d had that morning, about what he’d assumed to be a dream. Everything has been Christmassy and special, just like his living room felt at that moment. He liked it, loved it even, he really did. Whatever sad feelings Christmas had brought him before, they sure as hell weren’t doing that to him at that moment. 

“When...w-who..?” His mother finally uttered out. “Did you father…?” 

Having an idea about what the entire situation meant, Nagisa shook his head. He wasn’t sure how they’d done it, or if it had even been a “they” job, or rather one of the people he was thinking about, but he was thankful for it. Then it made him realize something. 

Last night had happened.  _ That _ had happened too. 

Suddenly in a hurry, he ran out of the door, hastily putting on his shoes on the way out. Barely managing to get them on, he didn’t take the time to tie his laces, overall just way too excited to get to where he wanted to be. If he tripped somewhere along the way, he’d get up and get over it due to the feeling of positive adrenaline he was feeling at that moment. 

And he did, trip, that is. He’d caught himself on a street lantern before stumbling ahead and continuing on his way. At one point he realized people were definitely watching him. Perhaps the sight of some teenager seemingly running with the speed of a man in danger wasn’t something the general population of Kunugigaoka was used to. Nagisa didn’t care though. 

Eventually he found himself finally coming to a halt, right in front of Karma’s house. He raised his hand, ready to press the doorbell, but retracted his hand slightly. His breath was heavy as he stood there, thinking…  _ overthinking _ it. A voice in his head told him to not make it awkward, but another voice told him to just go for it and do what he knew he wanted to do. The latter one he listened to. 

He rang the doorbell and, the moment it opened, he moved forwards. In the doorway stood none other than Karma Akabane, still dressed in his pajamas, whose eyes grew big in surprise as he watched Nagisa approach him fast. He did, however, not push Nagisa off of him when their lips met and Nagisa kissed him. 

Then they did part, he let out a laugh. “Good morning to you too.” 

“It all happened, right?” Nagisa instantly asked with a bright smile on his face. “Last night, Christmas, Santa… you and me?” 

A slightly embarrassed smile showed on Karma’s face as he nodded. He scratched the back of his neck in an insecure manner. Nagisa felt it too, but he was also too happy to show it. The fact that he hadn’t dreamed it was great. The fact that he and Karma had shared that moment, those moments, was even better. 

They stood there for a while, just the two of them smiling at each other. Eventually Karma looked back over his shoulder and then at Nagisa again. The look on his face was a lot more doubtful now. Nagisa could sense there was something wrong. He didn’t know what, though. It worried him a little, too, because he’d just accepted the joy of it all. 

“I, uh…” Karma avoided eye contact.”I meant to get you a gift but- I mean it was very chaotic but- I wanted to and-” 

Nagisa’s laugh interrupted him and made him look up at him in confusion. “You don’t need to get me a gift.” 

It was the truth. Nagisa had never really put much worth on Christmas, let alone on the gifts. He didn’t mind that Karma hadn’t gotten him anything. Honestly, because of his weird hatred before, he hadn’t gotten anything for him either, only something small for his birthday. So, really, there was no need. Karma didn’t seem to feel the same way however. 

“I still wanted to,” Karma said. “A great gift can really make one’s Christmas.” 

Nagisa rolled his eyes, pretty sure Christmas wasn’t supposed to be entirely about gifts. He was in no way the Christmas specialist between the two of them, but he’d dealt with enough people and commercials talking about it to realize that it was supposed to be about being with the people you loved. Something about that being the greatest present of them all. 

The general sentiment of Karma’s actions was nice. He’d really had good intentions about the whole ordeal, probably somewhat insistent on changing Nagisa’s view on Christmas. His views had changed, just not simply by a gift that Karma could have gotten from a store. There was a way for Karma to make his Christmas even better, though. 

“How about you gift me your presence today?” He suggested. “We have  _ way _ too much food for two people anyways.” 

Karma smiled to that, and then nodded in agreement. “I can always get you a gift later.” 

“Honestly, don’t worry about it.” Nagisa assured him. “Your father left enough under my tree… Didn’t he leave anything for you?”

There was a silence as Karma excused himself to walk back a little and take a look. Nagisa stepped inside to follow him, figuring Karma didn’t particularly mind him being in his house. He followed Karma to his living room, where he saw the other boy standing with a red envelope in his hand, looking at it confused. 

He noticed Nagisa had entered. “This is the only thing.”

“Well…” Nagisa prompted him. “Open it.” 

And so he did, carefully opening the envelope and taking out a piece of paper. It folded open once, meaning it wasn’t that big of a note. Well, Nagisa assumed it was a note, considering he saw some handwritten text on it. He was about to lean in closer, maybe getting a peek at what it said too, when Karma started reading it out loud. 

“Dear son. 

a sorry for being gone so often after all these years might be a little useless. I know it isn’t ideal that you’re alone for the holidays and your birthday. It is no wonder that is has upset you so much in the past years, honestly. 

Still, last night was enough proof to me that it did not change how much of a good kid you are. Even if you’ve convinced yourself that you’re not, not just any person would give away their beloved belongings to make another person’s day like that. There’s nothing much I can say about that other than that I am proud of you. “ 

Karma stopped for a moment after he’d read that last sentence. The look on his face didn’t give away much, his eyes just staring at the paper in his hand with a seemingly blank look. However, Nagisa knew better, sensed better. Those words meant something to Karma. 

Careful not to scare him, he moved closer, standing next to him and taking his hand. He looked at the note and realized that that hadn’t been the end of it. He squeezed Karma’s hand slightly, prompting him to continue reading. Nagisa knew he wanted to. 

“I know I said I wouldn’t get you any gifts this year and, to be honest, I really had no gift to give. With a change of heart so late in the night, I simply didn’t prepare anything for you. However, I think you’ve gotten something great this Christmas. You have someone on your side right there at home. Someone special, so you better treat him like that too. 

In this envelope are two tickets to the newest Sonic Ninja movie at that fancy cinema I once took you as a kid. I do hope you remember it, because it was really lit, as the kids say. The best gift I could think of was something for the two of you to do. I hope you like it. 

Merry Christmas and a happy birthday. 

Love, Santa.

Ps. your mother says hi too, obviously.” 

Neither of them said anything as Karma took out the two tickets from the envelope. He let out a breathy laugh and looked at Nagisa, who couldn’t help but smile back at him. He really shouldn’t be surprised about literal Santa Claus knowing exactly what kind of things he and Karma would do together. It was a great gift. 

“Is this where I ask you out on a date?” Karma asked him. 

“It could be,” Nagisa answered. “If so, the answer is yes.” 

And so they had their first date planned, with much thanks to Santa for supplying everything for it. That was a kind of funny thing to think about, that they’d gotten together because of Santa. Whatever presents Nagisa would find under the tree later, none of them would top this one. Karma was the best gift he’d ever gotten. 

They walked to his place together, their hands constantly glued together. It felt right, like it should have been like this way before. Well, now was better than never, Nagisa supposed. And as he walked there, in the snow, with Karma on his side, he really felt like he could finally enjoy that Christmas spirit a little again. Perhaps even without a Santa emergency next year. 

“Merry Christmas, Karma.” Nagisa suddenly interrupted their silent walk. 

Karma just smiled. “Merry Christmas, Nagisa.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END
> 
> thank you guys so much for following along with this project. It was chaos and...a lot, but I did it! it's done! Generally speaking I'm happy with it, though I do think the time pressure made for it to not be my best work. I'm still glad to see people enjoyed it.
> 
> Merry Christmas everyone! See you all in January with a new fic!

**Author's Note:**

> hii welcome to this Christmas project, where I will post a chapter of this fic everyday until Christmas, like an advent calender!  
> The fic is based on the Santa Claus movies, cuz I literally watch those every year and it just... The son in the second movie has such Karma energy. So yeah, Karma's dad is Santa Claus now, which is why he is never around. This takes place in the canon universe, post e-class. So yeah, Korosensei died the same year as this fic takes place, and the kids are all in their first year of high school. Oh boy will they be angsty! (also yes this is a Karmagisa fic, but one with an overarching story) 
> 
> I hope you all will enjoy this and keep reading until Christmas!


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